(OTTAWA) - The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) welcomes the broad commitment to addressing the critical issues facing agriculture made in the Speech from the Throne today,  but underlines the need for the government to act quickly on that commitment with a short-term investment to address the immediate financial need Canadian farmers are facing.

“The throne speech made a clear commitment to addressing the short-term need, fixing the Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization (CAIS) program, and to working with industry to build long-term solutions,” said Bob Friesen, CFA President. “CFA realizes the Throne Speech is only a general blueprint, but I hope Prime Minister Harper will follow through quickly with some specifics to immediately address the farm income crisis.”

The farm income crisis facing Canadian farmers is severe. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada predicts the realized net income (RNI) for farmers could fall as much as 54% in 2006. Comparing the RNI over the past four years to the previous historical average, there is a deficiency of $6.1 billion.  Including 2006 Canadian farmers are experiencing the worst four years on record for income. By contrast farmers in the U.S. are having their best four years.
 
Thousands of Canadian farmers will gather on Parliament Hill tomorrow to highlight the desperate financial situation facing the industry today.

-30-

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.