Bonjour, tout le monde. Thank you for allowing me to present to this committee, which is doing such important work for the agriculture sector in Canada.
My name is David Murray. My wife Annamarie and I operate a dairy farm just west of here, near Mitchell. I also sit on the board of directors of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, representing the producers of Huron and Perth counties, 600 of the 4,600 dairy producers in Ontario.
My MP Gary Schellenberger and MPP John Wilkinson proudly state that they represent the most agriculturally productive riding in the country. I am very proud that I live and work in this important rural community. I am also very proud that I derive 100% of my dairy income from the marketplace.
Ontario's 4,600 dairy farms produce nearly 2.4 billion litres of milk annually, worth approximately $1.6 billion at the farm gate, and employ a total of about 40,000 people in the farm, processing, service, and retail sectors.
Agriculture is the second-largest sector of the Ontario economy after auto assembly, and dairy is the largest sector of Ontario agriculture, at 20% of this total.
I would like to comment on three areas of the next generation of agriculture and agrifood policy, namely business risk management, renewal, and food safety.
Regarding business risk management, we believe that supply management needs to be clearly defined as a program under the business risk management pillar. More emphasis should be put on programs that work to maintain farm incomes and producer bargaining power in the marketplace--programs such as Canada's collective and orderly marketing systems, including supply management and its three pillars: production discipline, import controls, and fair farm pricing.
Although Dairy Farmers of Ontario recognizes the objectives of the renewal theme consultation, it notes that the discussion paper does not recognize the distinctiveness of supply management and its components and the realities of the system within a competitive and profitable Canadian agriculture sector.
Dairy is a regulated industry safeguarded by the three pillars: production discipline, import controls, and fair farm pricing. Supply management is designed to protect producers to a certain extent from international market forces. As such, dairy producers are not faced with the same industry challenges, international pressures, and competitiveness difficulties faced by non-supply-management producers, which are clearly the subject of the discussion paper.
The key to renewal is profitability. Profitability is first and foremost facilitated by supporting programs like supply management that provide stable and profitable farming opportunities. Profitability is enhanced within the renewal context through policies that allow producers to acquire and retain the diverse set of skills they need to meet market challenges.
There is a need for continual dissemination of knowledge, new markets, and innovation opportunities to all industry partners. There is also a need to provide producers with the knowledge and tools they need to apply acquired marketing technological and regulatory expertise in a way that allows them to maintain and improve income derived from the marketplace.
Food safety is a public good. The safety of the milk supply and the perception of safety are essential elements allowing Canadian dairy producers to market milk and dairy products in Canada. Dairy-producer participation in the Canadian on-farm food safety program contributes to the public good and is increasingly becoming an expected part of agricultural production. It is critical that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada realize that the market is not providing any extra return to producers in recognition of food safety, despite producers' making long-term commitments and incurring extra costs to implement and maintain programs that allow them to demonstrate that all necessary steps are taken to demonstrate the commitment to food safety.
Canadian farmers have long been providing safe foods to their customers. On-farm food safety programs do not introduce new, safer practices for producing food. They introduce systems of recording, documenting, and verifying that the production practices are being followed and are effective in controlling potential hazards. In short, the programs provide structure and demonstrate due diligence by dairy producers. Dairy farmers need incentives from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and premium prices from the market to recover the costs incurred through the implementation of the on-farm food safety program.
Under this area of food safety, I do have a few recommendations from Dairy Farmers of Ontario.
On-farm food safety and food quality programs contribute to the public good. Producers are making long-term commitments to the programs, but are struggling to justify costs. Recognition of the green nature of the programs is important, along with mechanisms to recuperate the extra costs from the marketplace.
Secondly, current on-farm food safety funding programs should continue with modifications to help producers develop, implement, and improve on-farm programs that contribute to the public good.
Thirdly, transition from the APF-1 to the next generation of agriculture and agrifood policy must be seamless.
And number four, the farm animal sectors are committed to work with the provincial and federal governments in a true partnership toward the development and implementation of a national farm animal health strategy. In this regard, the next generation of agriculture and agrifood policy must recognize the interrelationship of the numerous components of such strategy by conglomerating relevant programs and tools under a single pillar.
Those are my comments. Thank you.