Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for this opportunity to speak to you tonight and to talk about the difficult realities that farmers and food supply chains across Canada are facing due to this pandemic. These next days and weeks are essential if we are to ensure that Canada’s domestic food supply is secure, both now and into the future.
I am Keith Currie. I am vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, and I'm also president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. My colleague Scott Ross is with me here tonight as well.
CFA is Canada’s largest general farm organization, providing a unified voice for the 200,000 farm families right across this country. Food systems around the world are being challenged by unprecedented challenges and untenable operating conditions. The challenges and the uncertainty they introduce highlight the importance of a domestic supply of affordable and nutritious Canadian food, a critical factor in good public health. It must be the leading priority behind the direct public health impacts of COVID-19.
Canadians have always been able to depend on farmers to grow food, but today Canadian farmers are asking for immediate assistance from our federal government to be able to continue fulfilling that responsibility. Without it, Canadian consumers could see a decrease in the amount and variety of food at their local grocery stores as well as higher prices in the months ahead.
I applaud the collaborative efforts of all levels of government in mobilizing their resources to protect Canadians’ health, demonstrating what can be accomplished in the face of urgent challenges when we work together. There’s no shortage of issues facing Canadian farmers and their food supply chain. A primary concern is the labour shortage impacting farms and food processing.
We welcome many of the measures taken to date. However, continued logistical and recruiting challenges will likely see many Canadian farmers short on critical labour needs. This extends to processors and other key buyers of agricultural products, who continue to experience disruptions, absenteeism, and reduced capacity. The second concern is the increasing, unexpected costs COVID-19 is placing on Canadian farmers. Supply chain disruptions like plant closures already see farmers having to hold on to livestock where they can, or face immediate animal welfare challenges and the prospect of depopulation where they cannot.
Regardless, this equates to additional expenses, reduced revenue and less production. Meanwhile, shifts in the retail and food service landscape have seen markets evaporate literally overnight. These challenges erode the confidence needed to invest in planting a crop and maintaining livestock herds: decisions that directly affect the availability and affordability of food later this year. Unfortunately, the lumpy revenue of many agricultural businesses leaves them ineligible for wage subsidy, or their operating structures also preclude them from accessing most other COVID-related measures.
I would be remiss in not stating the extreme level of frustration and stress farmers are experiencing, particularly as they’re repeatedly told to look for support from existing business risk management programs that farm organizations have identified for years as inadequate and in need of reform prior to this unprecedented crisis. Reports from individual farm businesses identify losses well in excess of tens of millions of dollars, and these programs just weren’t designed to deal with the kind of financial challenges we’re seeing play out this year. I implore you to recognize the urgency of this situation and the need for immediate, targeted programs to respond.
The CFA is calling for an emergency preparedness plan that gives farmers confidence to overcome these challenges, targeting investments in a number of key areas. Most immediate is a flexible and responsive emergency fund, giving farmers and food businesses confidence that there will be expedient financial support for targeted programming to help them address previously unforeseen challenges. Following a survey of agriculture commodity organizations across Canada, farm and food businesses are calling for $2.6 billion in immediate support to respond to the myriad issues I touched upon earlier. In addition to this, producers need enhancements to Canada’s business risk management suite to provide confidence that they’ll receive adequate support from AgriStability if they do see significant losses throughout this year.
Finally, further measures are needed to encourage Canadians to work on farms and in Canada’s food processing plants. This includes financial incentives, but just as critically, prioritizing access to personal protective equipment, second only to health, to ensure that all agri-food workers feel safe coming to work. Canadian farmers take pride in the fact that we feed Canadians every day. If government invests now in risk mitigation, it will ensure that our food system is secure and our grocery stores continue to be well stocked with safe and affordable food, preventing more costly issues down the road and positioning the agri-food sector to help drive Canada’s economic recovery.
I thank everyone for their time, and I welcome any questions.