February 11, 2004

Budget delegates support cattle industry

Over the past two weeks I have traveled the province as part of the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee pre-budget consultations - helping to set the Ontario government’s fiscal agenda for the coming year.

Farming concerns were front-and-centre during stakeholder presentations in Toronto, Ottawa and Timmins.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the Cochrane Federation, and the Renfrew County Property Owners Association, made presentations to the Committee, asking for support in the wake of one of the toughest years for many Ontario farmers.

In his presentation to the committee, Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) President Ron Bonnett made it clear that, “Ontario has been losing over 1,000 farms a year for the past ten years.” And “over 65 per cent of Ontario’s farmers work off of the farm to keep their farms going.” 

Hence, the importance locally of keeping Stelco, Ontario Power Generation and other industries and businesses where farmers work as competitive as possible.

The presenters also addressed the key issue that has dramatically impacted livestock producers across the province:

“BSE has destroyed farm income for Ontario’s 28,000 cattle producers and roughly 5,000 sheep, goat, and deer producers,” Ron Bonnett said. “Producers who had to sell large parts of their herds at reduced prices cannot purchase replacement animals, and therefore many will face high income tax.”

With the discovery of a second case of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in North America, the need for support is more important than ever.

The OFA asked the Ontario government to petition the Feds to extend the Prescribed Drought Regions Deferral Program to livestock producers affected by BSE. As well, Ontario can lend its voice to the federal government’s request that the US reopen its market.

There is an immediate need for a cull cow program to aid cattle producers. In addition, the OFA is requesting:

• Funding to be directed in a way other than cheques to individual producers.
• Support for new packing capacity in Ontario such as GENCOR’s
• Support for additional cooler space in Ontario processing plants
• Funding to ensure that national identification tags program continues
• Funding for marketing, emergency feed and dead stock removal

Following Bonnett’s presentation – which I felt captured the urgency for action on behalf of our agriculture community - I asked, “for unanimous consent of the committee that, notwithstanding the motion that was passed on January 29, this committee press its full support for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s presentation today on February 2.”

Let’s be clear, our beef is safe to eat – and the recent announcement of $92 million from the federal government for BSE surveillance and cattle identification is a good first step. However, more must be done to accelerate testing for BSE – and more must be done to restrict the use of meat and bonemeal in animal feed.

Both Canada and the United States test only high-risk cattle for BSE. In 1997, Canada and the U.S. banned cattle feed made from the rendered by-products of other ruminants – sheep, goats or cattle. These products can presently be fed to hogs and poultry.

With unanimous consent being granted by committee members, I now join the Federations of Agriculture, as we look forward to a provincial budget that will deal with the crisis in our tobacco, cattle and other farm-based economies.