(OTTAWA) – As Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers prepare to meet in Calgary, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) is issuing a strong reminder to heed the needs and interests of their constituents: Canadian farmers. At this meeting the ministers will likely make key decisions that affect the future of Canadian agricultural safety nets programs. Farmers want to ensure those decisions reflect their input and ideas.

“There are two possible outcomes for this meeting: successful and unsuccessful. A successful meeting will deliver a blueprint for an effective safety nets program, built on industry input and industry-government cooperation, that meets the needs of farmers. An unsuccessful outcome will see us right back here saddled with another CAIS program that does not work for all sectors and all regions,” insisted Bob Friesen, CFA President. “Which outcome we get is a matter of choice, and that choice lies in the hands of the ministers.”

To achieve competitive policy the next generation of farm safety nets programs must meet key criteria in order to be successful. A safety nets program must:

• be predictable and bankable for farmers
• be flexible to accommodate regional needs
• address the issues of declining margins and high foreign subsidies

CFA and its member organizations, representing over 200,000 farmers in every part of Canada, has been pushing federal and provincial governments to work with it in exploring a new safety nets package option that includes an analysis on the merit of replacing the top tier of CAIS with a new and improved version of the National Income Stabilization Accounts (NISA) program. The CFA safety nets proposal also includes funding flexibility for regional companion programs because no one national program can address all regional and commodity needs.

CFA is concerned with proposals to continue the next safety nets program as a margins-based program only.  “To replace CAIS with a margins-based program is to simply replace CAIS with CAIS. The proposed margin-based program by itself will not address industry’s needs. To choose this path is a formula for the unsuccessful outcome,” said Friesen.

“We need programs that pass the test of predictability, bankability and flexibility. Collaborating with producers, working together on ideas is a better way of achieving success than an atmosphere of frustration. It is imperative we work together to achieve success for Canadian farm families.”

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Founded in 1935 to provide Canada's farmers with a single voice in Ottawa, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is the country's largest farmers' organization. Its members include provincial general farm organizations as well as national and inter-provincial commodity organizations from every province. Through its members, CFA represents over 200,000 Canadian farmers and farm families.