First of all, I'd like to thank you for the privilege of expressing my views and opinions.
I'm from a small operation, a dairy farm. We milk approximately 40 cows. I came home to the family farm--I'm working at taking over from my father--in 2005 on a full-time basis.
There are four main areas that I'd like to talk about, the first being supply management. Supply management is a model that works. It's all about stability. It's expensive to get in, but, to me, returns are the most stable of all agricultural commodities. The system needs to be protected first by producers, to govern supply, and also by government, against the erosion of domestic markets. Seventy percent of the revenue coming from Canada stays in Canada.
The recent throne speech firmly defended the system. As a young producer, I hope this continues to be Canada's firm stand. Supply management is a fair system for all levels: to the producer, to earn an income for what you produce; to the processor, to give a constant supply of a product; to the consumer, to be supplied with a high-quality product on a consistent basis.
The second area is food quality. All people at all times should have physical, economical access to sufficient safe and nutritious food to meet their needs and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Producers are constantly increasing efficiencies to provide a cheaper product to the consumer and to stay economically viable. In the 1970s, approximately 50% of the agricultural products purchased went back to the primary producer. Today, it's approximately 18%. Producers are trying to produce high-quality food under regulations that protect the producer and the consumer. Consumers are looking at the price. Maybe the import products are cheaper, but are they being produced under the same regulations? Shouldn't we be comparing apples with apples? Consumers need to be educated on where their food is coming from and how it's being grown. As has been mentioned here already, and as I've been told, 51% of the cost of the product...it can be labelled “Product of Canada”.
Producers and government need to work together to see that producers earn a fair price and consumers purchase what they think they are purchasing.
No producers? Some day there's no food. That's what I'm trying to say. What will our kids be eating? Will it be safe and well labelled?
The third point I'd like to make is that professionals are needed to help producers measure individual profitability. Sometimes a neutral set of eyes sees things that can be improved upon without huge expenses, and can see sources of financing or where it would be wise to invest. Constructive criticism has nothing to do with emotional attachments or personal goals, although they're important as well.
My last point is on labour costs and availability. Margins are getting tighter in the agriculture industry. The minimum wage is increasing. People are less willing to work on farms. For seasonal workers, the cropping seasons are not quite long enough to give them their EI.
To sum up, I'm proud to stand and say, anywhere at all, that I am a farmer. My heart's concern is that while some see an acre of cropland as being worth $30,000 to a building lot, I see it as less farmland, less food, hungry people.
Farmers need to be compensated for keeping their cropland in production, not as a subdivision. Do we need people to go hungry in this country to change the mindset? Protect producers and feed our people.
Thank you.