Tobacco growers close Simcoe's main street to protest bank move

Thursday, July 3, 2008

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

"We support all our membership."

On Monday, growers received an e-mail with the subject line "CIBC Protest". The e-mail, signed by the chairman, said "Be advised that one of our farmers is in need of support. He has been served notice that the bank will be taking his farm and equipment.

"We understand that financial institutions have a job to do but we need to all stand unified in our fight for a solution from government."

That farmer is "not the first and he won't be the last," Vandendriessche says.

The Simcoe protest is the latest expression of unrest in tobacco country as the growers wait, hoping for a buyout from the federal government and for negotiations for the sale of this year's crop to conclude.

"We are trying so hard to do what everyone is telling us to do, which is to exit the industry," says Vandendriessche, who farms with her husband Ron near Langton.

She says the Canadian Bankers Association is on side in seeking a solution. Vandendriessche and the board have been asking lenders to show "patience."

She asserts that the Tobacco Adjustment Assistance Program (TAAP) still stands; it just needs the government to put more money into it.

There were 700 applications for the last buyout in 2005 and only 200 accepted, she says, and growers in 2008 can't take an exit package any less than the $1.72 per pound of quota governments offered three years ago.

Vandendriessche called upon federal politicians to make good on promises made several years ago to do better than a previous Liberal government had done. Better Farming asked if she sees buyout cheques in excess of $1 million going to a a handful of the biggest growers as a stumbling block. If there are large farms and large quota holdings there are also large associated debts, she argues.

Meanwhile, tobacco companies and growers negotiating crop volume and price "are miles apart," she says, describing the price per pound and the guaranteed purchase levels offered by the buyers as "unacceptable." Vandendriessche couldn't recall negotiations for a crop size and price running this late into the growing season "but we've had issues before."

The 2008 tobacco crop, planted weeks ago, is doing well with regular rains, Vandendriessche says. Tobacco "likes this kind of weather." BF