Archive for August 13th, 2008
Ontario grain farmers to vote soon on amalgamation
The front page of this week’s Ontario Farmer newspaper has the headline, “Corn, soy, wheat groups look to September vote.” This is in reference to the possibility that the three Ontario commodity groups will merge into one organization. These talks have been ongoing for a number of years now and in fact were almost dead in the water, but have somehow found new life which will culminate in farmers having a final vote on whether or not they believe this is the best way to represent their combined grain marketing interests. The idea that these three groups could unite as one in Ontario, holds tremendous promise.
There is a lot at stake to say the least, particularialy since the World Trade Organization negotiations have collapsed. It is becoming increasingly more difficult for the federal government to bargain with other countries negotiating profitable trade agreements for agriculture. The current government has said that it will begin to actively work towards negotiating bilateral trade agreements where possible. With corn and soybeans at the forefront of environmentally friendly renewable energy development and the possible dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board, farmers have a lot of very important issues to deal with.
I wish our Ontario corn, soybean and wheat farmers the best of luck when they vote on the proposed merger of their three associations. I certainly don’t know if it is the right thing to do, however given the current state of “trade protectionism” that seems to prevail around the world, joining together to form one common voice would provide considerable strength in dealing not only with our own government but with other foreign markets as well.
The vote is anticipated to take place some time early this fall, ideally before harvest begins. The good news is that no one knows what is best for their industry better than the farmers themselves and so it is a very positive step that they will be the ones voting and deciding how to tackle the current and future challenges they face.
