J4 - What is the appropriate role of government in agriculture?

led by Ron Versteeg

present: Bette Jean Crews,  John Gerretsen, Tom Bakker, David Hahn, Joyce MacLeod-Kane, Rick Monroe, Cindy Vanderstar, Pat Dawson, Robin Comolli, Gary van Loon, Nellie Melnik, and others.

Ron is a dairy farmer and is a member of the Board of Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

What is the appropriate role of government in agriculture?

When countries subsidize their agriculture massively (as they do in the U.S. & EU), consumers end up paying twice for their food, once at the checkout counter and a 2nd time when they pay their taxes.

• Supply Management/Marketing boards:  get producers together to faciliate collective action.
• determines the market and produces to this demand, thus avoiding wasteful surpluses.
• Under Supply Management, producer don't get or need subsidies from Gov't.
• SM does require Gov't legislation & regulations to operate.

For more info on supply management visit: www.farmsandfood.ca

Ron: World trade is perverse.  Free trade is a way to make producers accept less, sometimes less than the cost of producing food. Free markets result in boom & bust cycles. To be viable, the farm economy needs stability.

Role of government:

• Canadian culture industry is protected as fundamental to Canadian identity in international trade deals( like NAFTA)- food producers should be protected from unfair international competition. We need to be sure that our food is produced to the safety standards we expect from Canadian produced food.With globally produced food we have little or no control over the quality of the food we're importing.We also need security in our supp;lies of food. The long internation supply chains are vulnerable to disruption by many events including strikes, shipping disruptions, health scares etc. Trade is necessary for food that can't be grown here (but we don't need to import beef in Ontario).
• government needs to get trade policy right.
• if society wants 'local food', government could mandate that food produced here goes to feed our people first, with surplus available to trade.
• government should work with the agricultural industry as a partner.
• government should continue to support research and  development.
• government should support the concept of food sovereignty
• more funding for the Ontario Markent Investment Fund (the % matching funds is prohibitive for small groups (and small farm businesses).

Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS)

Do all levels of government have roles to play? Municipalities should be encouraged to work in economic development.

Demand is here, but not enough supply.  We need to look for New Farmers (there is a new initiative in the Kingston area)