Ottawa-Canada needs a critical farm input strategy to ensure farmers have all the supplies they need to produce food, says Keith Currie, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

CFA has recommended such a strategy be included in this year’s federal budget to help drive down the cost of production and improve supply chain dynamics in the agriculture sector, Currie told the Commons agriculture committee.

The government should consult and develop such a strategy, like the critical minerals strategy it is working on, to ensure a long-term, stable supply of vital farm inputs to produce high-quality agriculture and agri-food products.

One of the great frustrations farmers face on this and many other issues such as carbon pricing on fuels used on farms is a lack of consultation by governments before announcing a policy such as the carbon tax on propane and natural gas used in grain drying and barn heating and cooling, Currie said.

“Nobody comes and talks to us before they put policies in place. It's not that farmers don't want to do the right thing or get to the right place in climate discussions or on carbon pricing, but we’re never given the opportunity to have meaningful input or work with the government of the day to create the right regulatory framework, where we accomplish the ability to put an effective pricing on carbon without hurting the farmer.”

CFA supports the attempt to get the original version of Bill C-234, that was gutted by the Senate, restored to give farmers some income stability while alternative forms of grain drying and building heating and cooling are developed, Currie said.

“Based on our survey of the impact of Canada’s carbon tax on livestock, crop and greenhouse farms across Canada, we were seeing the carbon tax account for up to 40 per cent of total energy bills in some sectors.

“Let's not forget that the two most important things to human beings are food and shelter, and food security is going to trump carbon pricing every day. I hope we just don't leave it to too late.”

Farmers are not the cause of higher food prices, Currie said. “It costs a lot more to produce the food we eat today than it did before the pandemic. For example, look at the change in price for many of our farm inputs out there. Whether we're talking about machinery, fuel, fertilizer, livestock or livestock feed, the costs to farmers have increased nearly 40 per cent between 2019 and today.

“While farm incomes have also increased during this period according to the most recent Statistics Canada numbers, growth in expenses outpaces the rise in farm cash receipts. While we are starting to see a softening of the commodity prices in the market, the price of farm inputs is still staying at a high level.”

Suggestions that farm gate prices drive retail prices do not stand up to scrutiny, Currie said. A recent study by the Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan found that more often than not, the farm price “plays a minor role, with the farm share of retail prices for the products sampled averaging less than a quarter of the value of the final product.”

If the input price increases continue to escalate, farmers are going to have to decide whether to cut back on their production or maybe quit altogether. “That's when you're going to start to see the impact on the food supply, which, inevitably, will have an impact on the price. We may be able to replace that supply, but it's going to be at a much greater cost, because it's not produced here in Canada. It's going to come from elsewhere.”

This news report was prepared for National Newswatch.