By Wayne Easter
Agriculture critic
Travelling across this wonderful Island, I can’t help but worry about the disappearing farmscape. Island farms are a key part of our economy and also provide the landscape that draws travellers from all over the world.
Half a decade ago, following cross-country meetings with farmers and farm organizations, I presented a report to the federal and provincial ministers of agriculture that examined the need to address the economic crisis faced by primary producers. The report recognized that producers were struggling to stay afloat and that the country was beginning to lose its farms at an alarming rate.
Sadly, this situation remains unchanged in many respects. The Harper government claims that it is “putting farmers first”, however the facts stand in stark contrast. According to Statistics Canada, the number of farms continues to decline across the country. On an annual basis, Canada loses 3,500 farm operations. According to the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture, the number of farms on P.E.I. has decreased by 28 per cent over the last 15 years. Farm families have been forced to abandon what in many cases are multi-generational operations.
Equally troubling, is the steady increase in farm debt. In 2004, farm debt stood nationally at $48.9 billion. At the beginning of 2010, total farm debt had reached $63 billion -- an increase in excess of 20 per cent in just five short years.
One of the markers of success has been our agricultural exports. Two decades ago we exported $10 billion in agricultural products. This year exports reached $42.8 billion. Unfortunately, as exports increase and agri-corporate profits escalate, primary producers have continued to see their incomes decline and their debts increase. Clearly, there is an imbalance of power in the marketplace.
In the face of this farm crisis, the federal and provincial governments have maintained that the suite of so called “assistance programs” which have been developed over the past five years, are adequate to address the crisis. However, I can say with complete certainty, that without substantial changes, they will continue to fail farmers. Even “Agri-stability”, one of this government’s most important assistance programs, has received a failing grade from the very farmers who use it.
Five years ago I called upon the federal and provincial governments to begin from the farm gate in order to address these concerns. This advice is as valid today as it was then. Support for Island farmers and the Island’s agriculture and agri-food sector is essential to our economic development and our continued contribution to the national economy. It is time to include farmers as equal partners in the development of the kind of programming that will meet their needs. It is time to implement a national food policy which maintains at its core a commitment to developing sustainable farm incomes, healthy living, safe food, environmental farmland stewardship, and international leadership and it is critical that we act now to counteract the loss of farm operations by ensuring that those at the farm gate are given the tools they need to be sustainable, productive and successful.
MP Wayne Easter represents the District of Malpeque and serves as Opposition agriculture critic in the House of Commons.
