The Canadian Federation of Agriculture hosted a virtual press conference on April 16 to shine a light on the agriculture industry’s growing challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and to call on the federal government to offer help to the food production industry.
Mary Robinson, president of CFA, wants to see more government response to keep the food production industry functioning despite the many unprecedented uncertainties being caused by the pandemic.
“One in eight Canadians rely on the food economy for their livelihood, and all Canadians rely on the essential food we make, but there are real challenges that require immediate support to prioritize keeping agriculture and food strong now as an engine for our post-COVID recovery,” said Michael Graydon, CEO of Food and Consumer Products of Canada.
The CFA, alongside FCPC, feels that the government needs to focus on supporting domestic food supply chains as a top priority behind healthcare services, to ensure the food chain is secure for both producers and consumers.
“As we respond to people’s illnesses and having to flatten the curve, we also have to feed 36 million Canadians every day, and we have to make sure we’re in a position to keep doing that,” said Robinson. “Right now people have many concerns, and having access to healthy, nutritious food should not be one of them.”
The CFA is asking the Canadian government to create an emergency fund or financial backstop of some kind to provide farmers with financial help while navigating the industry issues caused by COVID-19.
“It's very difficult to forecast the expense of that, but we do know that with healthcare, we will be making those investments to ensure that Canadians are healthy and safe,” said Robinson. “And with food production, we’re asking the government to treat food production much the same way.”
Producers are currently facing a shortage of labour, as temporary foreign workers are being delayed at the border, and an unpredictable market leading into spring seeding and harvest as it's unclear whether labour shortages will affect processing in the fall.
Some farmers are considering not planting spring crops at all, said Robinson, while others are concerned they won’t have the labour force needed to seed their 2020 crops. Many producers are also unsure of what crops they should be planting, to best address the industry’s future needs.
Producers are also facing an increased financial burden, as they are now required to provide necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) to workers and are being forced to keep livestock longer than anticipated due to meat processing plant closures.
“If we do not, as a nation, address the rising challenges immediately, Canadian consumers could see a decrease in the amount and variety of food at their local grocery stores as well as higher prices, in the months ahead,” said Robinson.
The CFA is asking the public to contact local MPs and express their opinions on the value of food producers and prompt immediate support for farmers across the country.
“When the dust settles on this experience and Canada comes through having fought this pandemic, we want to ensure our economy is best positioned to recover,” said Robinson.
“Investments in agriculture are really going to put Canada in the right spot to recover from all of these unprecedented expenditures we have has to appropriately make to deal with COVID.”
