It’s funny what happens when computers get swapped out.
Along with learning new software tricks and getting used to a different workflow, there are serendipitous moments where an old Word file floats into being again.
A little over 13 years ago we wrote a column about our great uncle’s farm and how part of that family’s livelihood included shipping cream. Not surprisingly, we had some sharp comments about the push at that time to abolish supply management in favour of the free market.
Fast forward a decade plus, and the issue has gone from a musing at that time by a columnist in a daily Newspaper to a front and centre issue possibly impeding the development of an international trade agreement.
U.S. President Donald Trump continues to ruminate about supply management as an unfair situation for farmers in Wisconsin, their nation’s largest dairy state. By shuffling Canada to the sidelines and getting a deal with Mexico first, this puts our government negotiators at a terrible disadvantage. But that is how Trump works – by employing a jack boot rather than bargaining in good faith for a deal with dignity for all.
Trump can’t be blamed for it all – even some politicians in Canada feel the same way about supply management. Maxime Bernier, runner up to current Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, incorporated the abolition of supply management in his campaign material. To him free market pricing would result in cheaper prices at the grocery store for milk, cheese and other dairy products.
Perhaps, but at what real cost?
We recall running the roads in the late 70s and early 80s with dad going to work in Drayton. It was a simpler time, but we do remember thinking as a kid how tough the farms looked up Mapleton way. A lifetime later, travelling the same roads, we see prosperity. It isn’t much of a leap to suggest supply management had a role in that.
Farmers operating under a quota system were better able to manage cash flow and meet the needs of bankers. By taking the highs and lows out of the market with supply management, good farmers were able to steadily improve their operations.
The result today is some of the nicest dairy and poultry operations around.
Under supply management the product is arguably better too, than say, a scenario where shortcuts in herd health and resource management are natural results of prices being too poor for too long.
As Bernier proposes and the public in certain circles demands, cheap food should be up for grabs without a care for the producers. We find that shortsighted, particularly as it relates to the long-term health of rural communities.
One of the unsung benefits of doing business in this county is the stability that comes with a financially healthy farm sector. Farmers tend to spend locally and we know many merchants who value the loyalty of farm families that patronize their store or restaurant.
If the current successful formula collapses, money will tighten up and the entire local economy will feel the pinch. That is cause for great concern.
While politicians have a way with putting the best spin on things, Canadians shouldn’t believe the only result of ending supply management will be cheaper eggs, milk and butter.
Rest assured Canadian taxpayers will spend billions more subsidizing and transitioning farmers from an effective, sustainable industry toward an untested franchise with a dubious future.
