Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Poultry farmers finally get trade compensation

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has unveiled a $630-million package of tradedeal compensation for Canada's poultry farmers.

Chicken farmers will receive $347.3 million of the funding, turkey producers $59.6 million, egg producers $134 million and broiler hatching egg producers $88.6 million.

The money will be paid over a 10-year period and some will be tied to investments farmers make to improve their operations.

Why these privileged millionaires need any help from hard-pressed taxpayers, including single mothers, widows and low-wage earners, who all pay HST, is beyond me.

Their competitors in the U.S. raise the same birds with the same genetics, the same feed, the same medications, etc., etc. And the Americans have no specific government support or subsidies coming anywhere near what supply management has given the Canadians.

The dairy industry is an entirely different story where Canadian, United States and European countries have all heavily subsidized their dairy farmers.

I gag when I think of the likes of Burnbrae and GrayRidge getting money to invest in new barns and equipment.