Canada’s “support to producers continues to be well below the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) average in recent years,” says a new report from the OECD.
Subsidies accounted for eight per cent of farmers’ gross receipts for two years from 2017 to 2019 compared with an average of 11.67 per cent for the 54 countries studied by the OECD.
Canadian support fell from 35 per cent in 1986-88 to 17 per cent in 2000-02.
“We need to see better support for farmers in Canada,” said Mary Robinson, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
The key increase the CFA seeks is to AgriStability.
Canada has shifted away from spending on safety nets toward spending on innovation and infrastructure over the past couple of decades, she said.
I think that shift is exactly right. It lays a foundation for long-term strength compared with the waste involved with most countries' farm subsidies.
