But who will grow the food?

Give aid or let family farms go bust: study

Family grain and oilseed farms can no longer turn a profit and society is at a crossroads at which it must choose whether to subsidize them or let them fade away, a University of Saskatchewan professor says. Hartley Furtan, a professor of agricultural economics, said an analysis of Statistics Canada data from 2003 shows family farms were kept afloat only by government subsidies and income earned outside farm gates. With similar data expected from 2004 and 2005 and a bleak outlook for 2006, it's time for society to make a choice, Prof. Furtan said. "If the sector is not important enough to warrant more financial support, let the market process take its course and we will have fewer farm families with less grain and oilseed production," Prof. Furtan writes in his policy paper, Whither Goes Prairie Agriculture. "If it is the families we care about, we need to consider new policies such as guaranteed annual income for farmers."

Meanwhile, with only two weeks on the job, Chuck Strahl, Canada's new agriculture minister, is asking farmers to give him more time to solve the income crisis. Strahl was heckled - some even turned their back on him - as he spoke to at least 2,000 farmers at a rally in Ottawa on Tuesday. “I've been two weeks on the job, guys, come on,” Strahl later pleaded. “The first day on the job, we paid out $750 million.” On Feb. 3, the day after being appointed as agriculture minister by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Strahl announced he was speeding up delivery of payments to grains and oilseeds producers. The cheques are being sent out this week. The former Liberal government had promised to provide the money to farmers in two separate payments spread over the year. Harper criticized the Liberals during the election campaign for splitting the payments, and pledged a further $500 million in emergency funds. Strahl acknowledges the money isn't yet enough to satisfy cash-strapped farmers. But he asked them Tuesday for time to meet with his provincial counterparts and industry representatives so he could forge a solution to the crisis.
(National Post, Canadian Press 060222)