Fred Steele
With the Federal Election set for October I thought it would be a good time to outline some of the main issues facing farmers. Now is the time that farmers should seek out local candidates in the October 19 federal election and find out where they stand on the various agriculture initiatives that have been put forward by farm organizations.
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the Canadian Horticulture Council and even the BC Agriculture Council is requesting farmers to ask questions of federal election candidates.
The farm issues read like a laundry list across the board. And the tree fruit sector is no exception.
One of the most serious outstanding issues centers around securing a payment process that reduces the risk of non-payment for fruit and vegetable shipments to brokers, wholesalers, and retailers. There has been a reciprocal agreement with the United States for many years and it has lapsed - the US wants Canada to give equivalent coverage for risk of non-payment. Therefore, the Canadian fruit and vegetable sector is seeking introduction of a “PACA-like Trust” in Canada, so that coverage and payment for fruit and vegetable shipments can be secured on both sides of the border.
The horticulture sector is also seeking new program resources for promotion of the consumption of fruit and vegetables nationally.
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) deals with issues that cover all agriculture commodities, and it specializes in risk management programs. CFA is seeking to have the AgriRecovery program cover multiple years of extraordinary losses from single short-term impacts or recurring events that are not effectively addressed through other programs. CFA also wants to see AgriRecovery clearly defined as a disaster related event. AgriRecovery must be decoupled from other business risk management programs. This would prevent ‘disaster’ funding from being clawed back under the other risk management programs.
There are some crop insurance enhancements also being proposed to better serve beginner farmers entering the profession - insurance premium credits need to be established to assist with the cost of participation for the first five years of a farm operation.
Recognition of new challenges such as weather and climate change in all regions of Canada, especially as it applies to AgriStability, which diminishes in its coverage when there are multi-year impacts from climate change. There is a proposal to eliminate the present reference margin limitations. The old, inflexible rules would be replaced with a new approach to limit payments to producers in profitable circumstances while ensuring coverage of allowable expenses for those with negative margins and long-term declines.
CFA is also proposing that young farmers be encouraged, by waving AgriStability payments for the first five years of program enrollment. This will encourage new farmers to participate, as new farmers typically have more limited financial resources that may prevent them from participating without extra help. The CFA is encouraging the government (whoever is in power!) to restore the AgriStability to the previous 85% of a farmer’s historical reference margin.
AgriInvest is in need of an overhaul to make the program meaningful and to encourage participation. The producer and matching government funds be raised to 1.5% of allowable net sales from 1%. AgriStability could be an important tool in encouraging new growers - CFA is proposing that the government provide a kick start program by depositing a 3.5% amount of allowable net sales spread over the first five years of farming.
In addition to these general CHC and CFA proposals, the Apple Working Group of Canada (under the CHC) is proposing a number of agriculture enhancement programs. These include:
- Funding for research clusters
- An infrastructure program to renew and upgrade packing
- A replant loan program through FCC (Farm Credit Corp) based on no interest payments for the first three to five years.
With these program improvements, the tree fruit sector will be strengthened and poised for growth.
The current state of the apple and tree fruit industry is brighter than it has been for many years. After years of removing more area than we plant, we are adding to increased interest and production in the industry. One issue is the infrastructure required to pack and sell any of the growth in production. The BCFGA is very favourable to federal funding provided towards infrastructure investments. There is a lot of ‘empty space’ in the ALR that used to produce tree fruits, and our goal is to get this land productive once again. If this industry is to grow and prosper, stable funding for programs and business risk management programs are vital components for the future.
Growers are encouraged to find out where their prospective members of Parliament stand on the issues facing the tree fruit industry. Election day is only days away and we urge all growers and producers to be informed voters. The tree fruit sector particularly has always done its homework and been prepared to advocate for programs and enhancements to programs that have a positive impact. The future of the tree fruit sector depends on our engagement with the governments - if the past is any example for the future. Be informed, engage and vote!