Coalition aims to turn acknowledgment into a commitment

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

Members of a farm coalition trying to alter government approaches to farm risk management are encouraged the federal government recognizes current programs are not working. Yet it’s going to be tough to turn that acknowledgement into changes, they say.

Helping the province to convince other provinces and the federal government to revise programs such as AgriStability is high on the Ontario Agriculture Sustainability Coalition’s agenda, says Bette Jean Crews, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

“We are pushing for fall,” to have AgriStability revisions in place, Crews says. The program pays farmers when their returns drop below 85 per cent of their individual historic averages.

The Federation is one of several provincial general farm and commodity groups that make up the Coalition. The Coalition wants changes to current programs as well as the introduction of sector-specific cost of production programs that employ federal, provincial and producer money to buffer the effects of market price fluctuations.

Crews says Coalition efforts will focus on helping the province to build support among other provinces and the federal government for the changes. Locally, she’s hoping farmers will air their concerns with their MPs.

No rallies are in the works.

Farmers are too busy, she explains, pointing out it’s in the middle of the farming season and an increasing number of the province’s farmers juggle chores and off-farm jobs.

Obtaining provincial commitment to a cost of production program is another goal.

Provincial Agriculture Minister Carol Mitchell has said the province won’t come on board without a federal contribution, Crews says. “And so it’s our job as an industry to convince the province of the right thing in that scenario.”

Crews says Mitchell “is not close-minded.” Yet “there comes to be a point where she will be saying ‘no’ and I will be pushing for ‘yes’ and we have to resolve that.”

The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association is another Coalition member and its chair, Brian Gilroy, says changes to AgriInvest, another Growing Forward program, would benefit his sector the most. Delivering cost of production programs to Ontario’s 150 different horticultural crops would be difficult, he says. Increasing the amount that farmers can obtain for a matching government contribution to their AgriInvest account is simpler. In 2009, AgriInvest government contributions were capped at $22, 500 or 1.5 per cent of $1.5 million in allowable net sales. The program covers profit margin declines of less than 15 per cent.

Gilroy says drops in market prices, loss of processors and rising expenses have affected those in the horticultural sector who grow crops outdoors. “It’s becoming more and more challenging to afford to be able to grow.”

Provincial initiatives, such as time-of-use electrical rates create more expenses. Time-of-use applies different electrical rates for different times during the day and comes into effect over the next several months in the province. The new approach will add significant costs to the on-farm refrigeration horticulture producers need to operate continuously to preserve food, he says. “That’s going to be crippling.”

Sarah Petrevan, spokesperson for the minister, notes that there was no explicit promise that changes to the Growing Forward risk management programs would happen before the umbrella agricultural policy expires in 2013. But federal officials have recognized for the first time that “something needed to be done” and indicated they would work with the provinces to explore what types of programs are needed. She says Mitchell looks forward to working with the federal government to “see what options are available.” BF