Imagine There's No Food....
Imagine a resource-wealthy country like Canada unable to produce sufficient food to serve the needs of its population. A relatively small population, for an undeniably huge geography, at that. One blessed by the kindness of nature with rich, arable land to produce all but exotic crops. We have wheat, barley, oats, corn, all the cereal crops we require, along with an abundance of pasturage for animal husbandry, and arable lands for root crops. We grow apples, pears, plums, peaches, cherries and grapes. We have farms located in what is considered to be urban areas that serve local purchasers with seasonable crops.A country that is self-sufficient in foodstuffs for its population is a wealthy one and one that is capable of sustaining itself with the fundamental necessities of life without a dependency on outside sources. Never more than at the present time have we realized how critical that capacity is to our independence and security, in a world where strife is rife and weather patterns have become altered to the extent that normal rainfalls and anticipated temperatures have been turned upside down with countries now facing ongoing droughts, dry heat to sizzle crops, and where war disrupts food productions, taking people off their land.
Added to all of this is the undeniable fact that we do our atmosphere ill by transporting edible goods great distances to enable consumers to purchase fruits and vegetables unseasonable in our climes, but now readily available thanks to energy-intensive transport. The cost to the environment through this transport of fresh goods is staggering, although none of us would be too willing to give up the opportunity to eat melons and citrus fruits all year around.
Still, we have our Canadian farms, the backbone of our existence, although we seldom give thought to our need for them. Like the clean air we breathe and the plenitude of our water supply we take our farming communities for granted. Yet farming as a way of life - for that indeed is what it is to dedicated farming families - has steadily become more difficult for small farms whose operators are aging and who can barely make enough money to meet their operating costs.
If any industry in Canada deserves the assistance that government subsidies can offer, it is our farming communities. Much indeed depends upon their successful existence. Now Statistics Canada informs us that there have been great changes in Canadian farms. There are fewer operating farms as small operations unable to meet their bills and make a decent living just give up. Young people no longer see farming as a reasonable aspiration. Land and equipment are too costly, the returns too meagre for the dedicated hard work.
Farmers are getting older; the average farmer in Canada is now 52 years of age, and if that isn't worrisome, what is? Farms are getting larger, and it's the larger farms, still family agri-businesses, that are succeeding in earning more; the economies of scale work in farming just as they do in industrial production and mass commercial purchasing. While the number of farms are shrinking, total farm area remains unchanged at 67.6 million hectares, simply because some farms are enlarging their operations.
Some provinces, like Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan saw huge drops in farming activities at 13% and 12% respectively, as compared to the average provincial decline of 7%. Those farms earning more than $250,000 in gross income increased by 14%, while those earning a million dollars increased by 33% over the last decade.
But as fuel prices grew along with the price of fertilizers, the average Canadian farmer spent about 86cents for every dollar made, not including depreciation; a major operating cost. Fully 44% of Canada's farms were unable to recover operating costs in 2005, representing in the aggregate, small farms. And 71% of farms earning under $25,000 were losing money, unsurprisingly. Even 14% of the million-dollar-earning farms found themselves in a debt situation.
Conspiring to produce that classic situation where farmers and their families must work at a second job outside of farm operations to cover expenses. Longer working hours, greater expenses, smaller returns, all lead to discouragement and burn-out.
So does the average Canadian realize our indebtedness to our farming communities? We should. We should be worried. We should be willing to have our tax dollars support the most vital industry in this country.
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, May 17, 2007
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