AGRI Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food |
HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Comité permanent de l'agriculture et de l'agroalimentaire |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
Report tabled on "Farm Input Costs in Canada and the United States"
Ottawa, Thursday, June 12, 2008 -
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food released today its 8th report. While spectacular increases in grain prices have been discussed and extensively covered by the press, little has been said about the just as stunning increase in certain farm input costs, and their negative effects on farming operations.
The Standing Committee report offers a comprehensive analysis of global and domestic factors that influence the demand and supply of some of the main inputs used by Canadian farmers. The 6 recommendations direct the government to review farm programs, the regulatory regime affecting farm inputs, and improve the intelligence that could be provided to farmers on input prices.
During the Standing Committee’s hearings, the issue of competitiveness and prices of farm inputs in Canada in relation to the United States was often discussed. Committee members agreed that a cross-border survey that would provide an accurate snapshot of the situation in April-May 2008 would be useful in better understanding the market forces at play affecting input costs. The Standing Committee decided to hire the Thomsen Corporation to conduct this analysis.
“The Thomsen Corporation study results highlight that timing was everything when it came to the price of fertilizers in the last year. Farmers that were able to “lock-in” prices before late 2007 enjoyed significant savings as compared to farmers who had to make their purchase late last year or this spring. This is why the Standing Committee report includes a recommendation whose objective is to help farmers better time the purchase of their farm inputs,” said Standing Committee Chair James Bezan (CPC – MP for Selkirk--Interlake)
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