National Grains Strategy
(project status: completed)
In the August 2006, Agrivision invited the Department
of Agricultural Economics (Richard Gray, Murray Fulton, Hartley Furtan
and Kathy Lang who are all part of KIS) to sit on a Technical Advisory
Group (TAG) to assist in the process of developing a National Grains
Strategy.
Background
At that time, agriculture had been experiencing two decades of declining
net farm incomes. Throughout the grains supply chain, most players are
profitable, it is at the primary producer level where profitability
is lacking. There had not been a national policy since the beginning
of the 20th Century and it was felt that a national policy was needed
in order to set long-term direction for the industry. Short-term ad-hoc
programs were not effective in building the agriculture industry. Long-term
direction for the grains industry followed by action plan items was
needed.
Agrivision wanted to develop a National Grains
Strategy that could be used by the government to develop policy
that would assist in the sector's development over the long term.
There was a belief among members of the TAG that agriculture
either needed policy to help it move to more corporate-style large farming
operations or policy that would support a family farm structure.
Deliverables
Regional meetings held across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta invited
recognized farm and agribusiness leaders to assess and analyze the issues
and engage in creative thinking about new and different approaches to
the grains sector. In addition to the regional meetings, a Senior Advisory
Group made up of former Federal Agriculture Ministers met in October
to advise on the project as well as share their wisdom and insight on
agriculture policy.
These meetings were Phase I of the project and the
end result was a report titled "Calling It Like It Is: Developing
a National Grains Strategy" (May 2007). The report argues that
the grains system was broken and that profitability could be restored
only if significant systemic changes were made. Designing long-term
visions for the sector and the supporting policy strategy is the key
to the future well being of the sector. This will require the collective
leadership efforts of the industry, governments and academic community.
Phase II of this project will continue this investigation and will be
titled: "Seeking Solomon - The Solution".
Update
Phase II of the project is currently on hold. However, since the completion
of Phase I a much different financial picture exists for grains and
oilseeds farmers. Therefore, it would make sense to revisit and revised
the recommendations in Phase I given the improved financial outlook.
For more information:
Kathy Lang 966-8419 or click
to email the KIS Project
Al Scholz: Click to email Al Scholz
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