Thank you.
My name is Ray Orb and I'm president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, known as SARM. I was born, raised and live in the small community of Cupar, northeast of Regina, Saskatchewan.
I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food for the opportunity to share our association's thoughts as it studies global food insecurity.
Our membership is made up of Saskatchewan's rural municipal governments. We also represent and serve the interests of Saskatchewan agricultural producers. SARM has been the voice of rural Saskatchewan for over a hundred years. I look forward to sharing our perspective on this critical issue with you today.
We are in a perfect storm for higher food prices, given the skyrocketing costs for fuel and fertilizer and other input costs, combined with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. We see this negatively impacting the global market supplies for food, fuel and fertilizer. These commodities' prices are rising steeply.
Prior to the war, Russia and Ukraine were growing exporters of grains and oilseeds. Canada was losing its market share. Canadian producers can expand to fill that gap, but must do so with competitive prices and sustainably produced products. Now is the time for the trusted, reliable agriculture sector in Canada to step up and fill these gaps in the world market to help stabilize world food insecurity. We can't afford to waste this opportunity to fully support an industry that already contributes over $110 billion annually to Canada's GDP.
Before I suggest what might be done to capitalize on this opportunity, I need to paint a picture of the realities facing our agriculture sector.
Most farmers carry a lot of debt. They buy seed, fertilizer and equipment every year, and then hope for a bumper crop and high returns many months later. Farm debt has risen every year since 1993. According to Stats Canada, at the end of 2021 Canadian farm debt totalled $129 billion. That's up about $8.6 billion from a year earlier, which outpaced the $5.34-billion increase recorded the year before. The rising interest rates call into question the sustainability of some farms, which could directly affect consumers, as well as the one in nine Canadian jobs involved in this country's agriculture and agri-food sector.
The challenges that have arisen since the beginning of our COVID-19 pandemic problems have shone a spotlight on the reliability of our supply chains. Rail strikes, delays at port and tightening of border restrictions have slowed the movement of goods and people, resulting in direct supply chain disruptions. Farms looking to increase productivity or capitalize on new marketing opportunities struggle with finding and retaining good labour to support their plans for their farms.
Most importantly, Canadian agriculture producers need government support to help them compete internationally. Nearly 40% of farm income in the United States is estimated to come from government supports, with 38% in the European Union. Canadian producers need equal support now, more than ever, when facing the implications of inflation and rising fuel costs, to grasp the existing opportunity to fill world market gaps in grains and oilseeds.
Now, let's talk about opportunities.
We need to urgently increase the supply of skilled and unskilled labour, and to improve the knowledge and skills of existing workers. Farmers need access to agricultural labour to be successful and maximize their ability to expand. We need federal funding for grants to address the class 1A driver shortage in agriculture. Currently, farm operations are not eligible to apply for this funding. We also need government-funded employee incentive and retention programs that focus on agriculture. We need more training opportunities to be offered at times when farm labour is needed in the field during harvest and seeding.
We also see a huge opportunity to embrace those immigrating to Canada from Ukraine. SARM calls on the federal government to evaluate its process and the requirements for newcomers to get proper permits to enter the Canadian workforce. The government should focus on efficiency and reduce barriers so that we can welcome these Ukrainian immigrants into our province and into the workforce in a timely manner.
We also need the federal government to remedy the following issue. In March, the federal government placed a 35% tariff on fertilizer imported from Russia and Belarus amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The tariff was intended to act as a sanction on Russia, as fertilizer is one of that country's biggest exports to Canada. However, suppliers are passing that cost on directly to farmers. We understand the need for sanctions, but a better solution would be a partnership with the Canadian government to get inputs arriving on time and providing tariff relief for farmers.
Agriculture has—