Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

More Urban Media Myths

Here's a story that is against supply-management in an effort to get a trade deal with Europe.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/eu-trade-talks-stuck-on-b...

Whether you are for or against SM - you've got to admit some of these facts are a little off. Here's the most obvious to me...

"European farmers generally not receive subsidies for the production of food, and provincial supply-management programs, which mainly apply only to dairy, would be seen as an unfair competitive advantage."

While they may not get subsidies directly tied to the production of food - they are still get well paid by the governments just to be on rural land. Plus - as far as I know SM isn't mainly with dairy - but also poultry and eggs. If the Globe is going to weigh into this debate - I just wish they'd get it right.

Views: 86

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on October 19, 2009 at 6:55am
After reading the comments it all comes down to this: the urban media wants to treat farmers as second class citizens. They want food for nothing since it is their given right to have access to cheap food.
Comment: "For many years the Milk and Dairy group have kept the Prices up and treated Canadian Consumers unfairly!"
It is shameful that the media can state fiction as fact and we can not turn around and sue them in court as slander. The Ontario dairy producer is not given his cost of production when reporting the price of milk. It is my understanding the price that the dairy farmer in Ontario receives covers the cost of production for only 50% of the dairy producers. So another 50% are producing milk at less than cost and once again the consumer is using, yes "using", the farmer as a slave to society.
When an auto worker in Ontario is making $35 per hour and increasing production under a non-unionized environment (Toyota) producing a product that is non-essential, why does media continue to slander farmers who produce an essential product?
Then again - if you are reading this you already feel the pain.
Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on October 19, 2009 at 7:08am
posted at globe and mail under the article Andrew offered the link to:

Please explain to me why farmers continue to be rated as second class citizens who are not paid for their time and work completed to provide a basic necessity for society to exist?
Also - Dairy is just one component of the Supply Managed (SM) commodities in Canada. Poultry and eggs are also under SM.
As for dairy farmers getting paid for their cost of production - false. The price paid to the dairy farmer in Ontario is a price to cover only 50% of the dairy farms cost of production. So that means that the other 50% are producing their milk at a loss.
So when the farmers (beef, pork, grain, fruits & vegetable and 50% of the dairy farmers) are producing their product at a loss, in a society where a non-unionized auto worker (Toyota) is making $35 per hour, someone explain to me why we even have food produced in this country?
On Sept. 16th in Belguim, a group of dairy farmers dumped between 3 and 4 million litres of milk protesting the lack of returns for their milk. France, Germany, Britain - all the same including the US dairy farmer.
So please - urban media included - explain to me as a young beginning farmer why I should even tempt to go into this industry when the four food groups that the Canada Food Guide recommends are losing money - ie. not paid for their labour.
This article does nothing but fuel the fire for people who want farmers to toil the land and not get paid.

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Water Stewardship: A Ranching Family’s Approach to Conservation and Changing Landscapes

Nestled in the arid South Okanagan, Thomas Ranches is a multigenerational operation that balances ranching with conservation. In 2000, the Thomas family sold their land to The Nature Trust of British Columbia, preserving natural habitat while continuing cattle operations under a lease agreement. Today, Brian Thomas manages 200 head of cattle on 350 acres, with the remaining 1,650 acres dedicated to wildlife habitat. Effective water management is crucial to sustaining both livestock and the surrounding ecosystem in this dry region. Balancing Water Needs in a Shifting Landscape Thomas Ranches relies on a creek-fed storage dam and an extensive irrigation system. This helps them manage water shortages in a dry climate that gets less than a foot of annual rainfall. Frequent droughts have intensified competition for water resources, and the impacts of increasing population growth, tourism and conservation efforts place additional demands on an already limited supply. Wildfires also pose o

International Association for Food Protection Elects Maria Hoffmann to Executive Board

Members of the International Association for Food Protection elected Dr. Maria Hoffmann to the Executive Board as Secretary. Dr. Hoffmann will take office at the conclusion of IAFP 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and will fulfill a five-year commitment to the Association, serving as President beginning in July 2029. Dr. Hoffmann is a Genomics Research Scientist in the Human Foods Program at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Washington, D.C., where she leads national- and internationally-recognized initiatives to advance the genomic epidemiology of foodborne pathogens. Over the past two decades, she has worked at the intersection of science, public health, and food safety policy, developing advanced genomic methods, building global networks, and strengthening outbreak detection through whole genome sequencing (WGS). She began her public health career at the Institute for Hygiene and Environment in Hamburg before joining the FDA in 2007. An active IAFP Member since 2014, D

Canadian government commits to national soil health strategy

The federal government will work with a national organization to support soil health across the country

Nebraska fires burn grazing lands, threaten plans to grow US cattle herd

Wildfires burn nearly 775,000 acres in Nebraska Land is a grazing resource for about 40,000 cows Producers look for alternative pasture lands, feed Massive wildfires have burned vast swaths of grazing lands in Nebraska, endangering cattle producers' plans for production increases that could help ease record-high U.S. ?beef prices. The loss of grasslands in the second-biggest cattle-producing state removes a feed source for herds and could delay ranchers ?from expanding as they struggle with widespread drought, state and industry officials said. Fueled by fierce winds, fires have burned nearly 775,000 acres since last week, covering an area about the size of Rhode Island, according to data from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. It added the causes of the fires are undetermined. The largest Morrill Fire was ?about 67% contained as of Thursday after being first reported on March 12, the agency said. That amount of land is a grazing ?resource for about 40,000 cows, said Sherry

Canada offers financial aid to farmers and companies affected by Iran war price spikes

Canada's federally backed farm lender is offering financial aid ?to farmers, agricultural businesses and food ?companies hit by the spike in fertilizer and energy prices, it said on Friday. Borrowers from the ?Farm Credit Canada program will be ?able to receive a new or additional ?credit line of up to C$500,000 ($364,670.70), ?to modify terms and to defer principal ?payments on existing loans. The money will come from an expansion of the Trade Disruption Customer Support Program, ?which was introduced in March 2025 to ?help agriculture and food borrowers hit by U.S. tariffs. It will ?now ?also provide support to help producers and agribusinesses "manage financial pressures caused by unexpected market shocks," Friday's statement said. Fertilizer prices have soared ?since the Iran ?war began ?at the end of February and led to the closure ?of the Strait of Hormuz to ?most ?shipping, disrupting urea and sulphur supplies from the Gulf. As a result, farmers around the world are ?strugg

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service