Tony Martin stands up for beef farmers

NEWS RELEASE

NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

**************************** New Democrats back beef farmers' call for aid

OTTAWA - With bills piling up, lousy insurance programs and unfair trade barriers, beef farmers said they came here today needing government assistance which will benefit both Canada’s rural and city population.

"We are back in Ottawa because we are back in crisis,” said Northern Ontario cattle farmer Jack Tindal (shown). “I know the phrase perfect storm is overused but that is exactly what the farmers face with an insurance program that is not paying farmers, mounting debt, our strong Canadian dollar and the unequal playing field with American farmers.”

New Democrat Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie), Tindal’s MP, noted farmers first had to deal with an ineffective Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization (CAIS) program under the Liberal government in 2004-06 and are now are even worse off with the Conservatives, getting a fraction of previous payments.

“Food security and 100-mile dinners are helping more urban city dwellers to connect the dots back to the producing farmers and the need to support them with programs that actually help,” Martin said.

“The bottom line is that we need to ensure that our cattle industry survives,” said New Democrat agriculture critic Alex Atamanenko (British Columbia Southern Interior). “Even though exports have tripled, our beef producers are making less than half of what they made 20 years ago. There is something very wrong with this equation. This crisis ends up at every family’s table.” 

Representatives from the Canadian Cattleman’s Association, Ontario Cattleman’s Association and National Farmers Union said producers need support now to remain in business long enough to restructure their industry  to deal with the market realities they face.

Cattle farmers want agriculture stability, including bigger margin coverage during losses and removal of a viability test that demands positive margins in two of the past three years.

Slaughter cattle exports are down 20 per cent this year while feeder cattle exports are down 50 per cent.

**************************** Photo caption: Tony Martin, Jack Layton, Alex Atamamenko, New Democrat agriculture critic, and sitting on far right Jack Tindall and other cattlemen association reps.