Evidence of meeting #44 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was farm.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Blake Richards Conservative Wild Rose, AB
I don't know if we can get very far on it then. I'm not overly familiar with some of the groups you're here representing. We're certainly familiar with the National Farmers Union. We've had you guys in here as witnesses many times, and I've met with groups from your organization. I'm very familiar with you. Obviously everyone's familiar with Carleton University.
As for the other two groups, where does your funding come from? Who do you provide advice to? Do you provide advice to farmers or to industry groups? I know we don't have much time, but maybe you could briefly talk about that.
President, Ontario Agri-Food Technologies
My group was created in 1997 by the farm organizations of Ontario. I answer to a board of ten directors, five of whom come from the farm organizations. People like the OFA, the corn producers, soybean producers, dairy farmers, and pork producers are all members. Five of my board members come from that group, two come from universities, and three come from industry. I answer to that board. And there are 45 organizations. It's mentioned in my presentation.
Special Advisor, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network
CBAN is a coalition of civil society organizations, so it can be farmers' organizations such as the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario or Union paysanne in Quebec. It brings together NGOs as well, like ACT for the Earth, Inter Pares, USC Canada, organizations that have been, in one way or another, working on the issue of GMOs in Canada and abroad, as well, for many years.
And three years ago the idea was that we needed something that could focus more on the issue. That's when CBAN was formed. We have a small secretariat and a steering committee, of which I am a part.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Larry Miller
Thank you very much.
I'd like to thank our witnesses for being here. We now have our group of young Canadian farmers here, who we're looking forward very much to hearing from.
Thanks very much, and merry Christmas to all of you.
We'll just break for a few minutes. I know we just have two of the scheduled young farmers who are here, but I welcome all of you who are here to come up and sit around the table. It would be very good to have you.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
I'd like to welcome the Outstanding Young Farmers to our agriculture committee.
Some food was brought in by the House of Commons, so feel free to have a nibble on the way through.
Our committee is made up of the Conservatives, who are the government, and the opposition, consisting of the Liberals, the Bloc, and the NDP. Most of the time, things work out quite well. At the end of the day, we're all here, and our forefront thoughts are for the farmers and for agriculture. Many of the MPs here are farmers, or they represent agricultural ridings, so they all have a good grasp on what's happening out there.
The report we've been doing this year is on the competitiveness of agriculture. We're just finishing it up, and in the next few days we're hoping to have it done.
The timing is good for you folks, because in the new year we're going to be dealing with the future of agriculture, so we might be having to ask some of you to come back and help us out.
Anyway, welcome. You are the main witnesses, and I heard your presentation is going to be short. When you're done, others can chip in and we'll do a round of questioning.
You have the floor. Good luck.
Harry Koelen Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
Thank you.
Good afternoon, members of the committee. Thanks for the invitation. We're honoured to be here.
Leony Koelen Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
We are Harry and Leony Koelen. We live in Paisley, Ontario, in beautiful Bruce County. We have five children. We operate two farrowing units of 2,750 sows each, on a total land base of 1,100 acres. We produce about 140,000 piglets annually. All pigs are sold to a Listowel-based company called Synergy Swine, and they're all finished in Ontario.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
We will give you a quick summary of our farming adventures. In 1987, at the age of 17, I came to Canada as a co-op student and fell in love with the country. In 1991 I immigrated to Canada with a backpack, $2,000, and the dream of becoming a farmer.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
I met Harry just before I left, and I had to get married to him to get in the country.
After working for others for four years and saving every penny we could, we were able to buy an old run-down farm near Brussels. With the use of additional rented barns and school buses, we were able to keep 800 sows. In 1999 we sold the farm and moved north to Paisley, where the land was cheaper.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
Being our own general contractor, we were able to build a bigger barn for 2,700 sows. A few years later, after spending four months in bed with a back injury, I figured that the farm was running pretty well without my always being there. We thought we might as well build another barn for 2,700 sows.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
We rented all our land to concentrate on pig production. We employ 16 full-time people and a few part-timers, including our two eldest daughters. Together with our team, we try to run a low-cost, efficient operation, with high sow productivity. We pay a lot of attention to environment, animal welfare, and health and safety for our employees.
After 15 years of farming and some struggles along the way, like the roof that collapsed under heavy snow loads, we had a large barn fire in 2003 that killed 1,280 sows and 2,000 pigs. We're weathering the hog crisis right now, and we are still here.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
A few government initiatives have helped young farmers, including us. The AgriStability program helped young farmers, but only after they had been in business for a few years, because they needed reference years. The environmental farm plan has helped a lot of farmers, and helped us quite a bit as young farmers. We used it quite extensively. And the new hog restructuring program might prove to be a success and keep some more of us in the business.
Many challenges face young and beginning farmers. Today the farms are getting a lot bigger because of lower profit margins. The beginning farmer needs a lot more capital to get started. It's almost impossible for young farmers to start from scratch. We wanted to start farming. I had a degree in swine and poultry, I had four years of experience as a farm manager on a large sow operation, and I'd worked on pig farms almost all my life. But it was hard to get financing, and we could not borrow a higher percentage on our equity. At the same time, larger investor-driven barns were put up by people with no prior knowledge or experience in the field, and these people could actually borrow the same percentage on equity. So it seems that there is no credit given for experience, knowledge, or past record.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
Another challenge is that it takes too long for the beginning farmers to qualify for support programs because they have to build up reference years. In 2007 the Ontario hog, beef, and horticultural program did not work well for beginning and expanding farmers. Our last-built farm, which started shipping pigs in 2004, did not qualify for anything else. At the same time, some deceased farmers did get a cheque, and even farmers who were out of business for a few years got money. It makes it worse for the beginning farmer, because in times like this you're losing money. Then some of your other farmers do get money, but we don't get it.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
Yes, even going back more.
All other challenges we all face right now as farmers are bigger for beginning farmers because they're a lot more vulnerable because of the low equity position. Farm-gate prices have not kept pace with cost increases for labour, fertilizer, fuel, feed, and other farm inputs. And the wild and unpredictable fluctuation of the Canadian dollar has reduced export sales and our margins big time.
December 3rd, 2009 / 4:30 p.m.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
Some things need to be done to retain and encourage young people in farming. We need more positive advertising of farming and farm products. People need to understand where their food comes from. I'd like you to pay attention to this. We have brought this up a few times before. Maybe the government could guarantee some start-up loans for beginning farmers; maybe certain criteria have to be met--for example, education, experience, some track record or something. An appointed committee could review and decide if the business plan for beginning farmers is viable.
A number of issues affect all farmers these days, but young farmers are most vulnerable. Government has to show farmers that they care. We want the same set of standards for imported products as there is in place for domestic and exported products.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
Canada should implement its own COOL. Canadian farmers are decreasing their herds, and at the same time we import more meat from the U.S. year over year. We also need to create a level playing field for produce in Canada. Alberta and Quebec government farm support programs enable low-price beef, veal, and pork to Ontario at prices that undermine Ontario industries. So we're competing against other provinces within our own country. Current risk management programs were not designed to cope with today's market conditions. We need immediate adjustments to the agri-stability program and to the calculation of reference margins to account for low negative margins.
In summary, in order to attract young people to farming we have to offer them a sustainable industry. No matter what kind of program we offer or put out, if we cannot keep our farming industries going in Canada, no person in their right mind would take up farming.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
Thank you very much.
You have quite an impressive operation with all the challenges you're facing. It must be hard on the family at times. There's not too much vacation time either, with all the chores you have to do.
We still have at least 10 to 12 minutes. I'm going to open it up a bit to any of the young farmers who want to talk about their operation or say anything about what we should be doing as a government.
John Côté Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
I'll let Richard start, as he's our chairman. He can give you a bit of an overview of Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program and our efforts to emphasize what's positive in agriculture. To me, that's one of the things we really want to bring forward. I'll just turn it over to Rick, and then if he doesn't do it all, I'll add some.
Richard Stamp Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
That's our group. Nobody's short of words.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here today. We do appreciate that request. This is Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program, and it's a program that first identifies then celebrates and honours young farm families from across Canada, literally from coast to coast and from all disciplines of agriculture. Everybody can introduce themselves. Across Canada, we are from organic producers to hog farmers to dairy to chickens to blueberries. You name it; it's all-encompassing. It's the 29th year of Canada's outstanding young farmers, and I've had the pleasure of being the president of this association for the past two years.
I'm not a young farmer. I was involved in this program 12 years ago, when I was nominated, and back when I guess you could say I was a young farmer. Today, at 51 years old, I guess I'm still demographically a young farmer.
We do have some other young farmers here, and there are a couple of young ones sitting here from Saskatchewan and Alberta. We're very happy to have with us some of our children who are very actively involved in agriculture. I'm not prepared; I didn't write a speech; I didn't do anything. We wanted Harry and Leony to come. We asked if they could just come and make a talk today. They're in an industry that's been under supreme pressure the last number of years with issues. I just think it's very unfortunate in our country that we can't have some return on production. There are lot of factors. There are no two ways about it.
We'd like to create solutions through our group. We like to help. We'd like to offer our group of producers to help build programs in the future. I'd say we're all very politically inclined, but we work really hard to get along all across Canada. We have more than 430 members of Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program now. Every year we get together, and we do actually have forums. We do a lot of work all year round on positive aspects of the future, and it really is to try to make sure we have the next generation of farmers to provide food for Canada and the rest of the world.
With that, if that's okay, we could just have everyone introduce themselves. Maybe I'll just start for one minute, and then I'll let everybody else have a chance.
I have an irrigation crop farm, and I'm two hours south of the city of Calgary. I grow pedigreed seed, and I'm in that industry you just heard about. We do grow hybrid canolas, which are GMOs. We've been involved in that for many years, plus all the other conventional items. We also grow flax, which actually has been hurt this year with the challenges in the flax industry because of so-called “other issues” with GMO and that. It affects every farm across Canada, with all the different issues, and I believe in it very much, but we are going to be hurt in that.
I'll just go around the table.
Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
I'm John Côté. I run a grain farm in northern Saskatchewan, very close to where Randy Hoback farms. As you are aware, we had a very trying harvest, but nonetheless it was a good harvest.
I just want to expand on a few things Rick said.
I really want to emphasize that the group you have here is an extraordinary resource for the government and for people who are making policy. You are looking at some of the best farmers from across the nation. I think they're a very good representative sample to pull ideas from and to use as a sounding board. I think OYF wants to offer that opportunity to the government.
Along that vein, just talking kind on behalf of the guys we sit around with on coffee row, talking about farming and about the government and all that kind of stuff, a lot of times we don't quite agree with what you guys do, but nonetheless deep down we all appreciate the effort. I think every farmer out there in Canada has to have a lot of appreciation for the fact that a lot of people who aren't directly involved in their industry and don't go out to the fields every morning spend their whole careers working towards making what we do possible. On behalf of those farmers, I really would like to say thank you to the standing committee and to everyone involved in the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food for all their hard work.
Thank you.
Eadie Steele Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program
Hi, my name is Eadie Steele. I'm a sheep producer, with my husband, John, in central Ontario near Peterborough. We have a flock of about 1,800 ewes.
The sheep industry right now is probably one of the bright spots in the agricultural industry. It's a growing industry. It's very positive. It's a strong market with lots of opportunities. The only thing I'd like to have the committee address is the problem, not only for the sheep industry but for other industries as well, of regulatory issues related to the licensing of drugs and vaccines and so on that imported meats have access to.
I was speaking to Mr. Shipley at lunchtime, and I said to him that we are probably very unique in the sheep industry in that we do not view New Zealand and Australian meats as competitors. I view them as complementary to Canadian lamb simply because they can fill the market when we cannot.
The Australian and New Zealand people are very good at producing a lot of lamb. I would much prefer that when consumers go to the grocery store looking for lamb they are able to buy lamb. Whether it be from Canada or New Zealand is irrelevant. I don't want them to buy another kind of meat; I want to them to keep eating lamb. I'm quite happy to have the New Zealanders and Australians fill the market when we're not able to. However, I would like it to be a level playing field. We would like to have access to the vaccines and wormers they have access to.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak.