The
federal and provincial agriculture ministers need to be far bolder than their
past five-year policies, say agriculture economists with Agri-Food Economic
Systems Research.
“The
risk is that the dialogue and ultimate agreement will be both too small in
ambition and too safe in its scope”, says Al Mussell, co-author of the
policy note.
So what do you expect of a camel created by committee?
“Another
five years of modest change in (Growing Forward) policy and programming is
unlikely to provide a stable base for industry growth; there are just too many
big changes coming at us,” says Mussel.
Among
them are “demographic trends in farms and food processing (that)
will pressure program design, marked uncertainties (that) characterize markets
and trade, and agriculture (that) will be impacted by, and can be a solutions
provider for, climate change mitigation commitments,” the team says in a news
release.
Co-author Douglas Hedley, who retired after a career
as a top federal agriculture department policy advisor, says “when federal and
provincial governments are already underway with carbon tax or cap and trade
initiatives, we cannot talk blithely about beneficial management practices and
environmental farm plans.
“It
will become increasingly difficult to avoid the reality of differential demands
for business risk management programming.
“Moreover,
the new policy framework will need to accommodate and prepare for new
trade agreements, with an acknowledgment that these may not roll out exactly as
anticipated, and that other measures may be required to stimulate growth,” he writes.
Another
member of the team is Bob Seguin, who served as top policy advisor in the
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and was chief executive
for the now-defunct George Morris Centre.
It's too bad that their advice to ministers of agriculture was never made public.
Mussel
was senior economist at the George Morris Centre.
