Gary Pike: Should Supply Management Stay or Go in Canada

[milkmanfh]

As far as paying more for food in Canada you will find similar differences as a % on everything from a loaf of bread to a jug of milk, food is more expensive in Canada. There is no doubt in my mind that if there were deregulation of the supply managed sectors that the farmer would get less for their milk but the consumer would pay the same for a long time. Some simple evidence of this is the drop in beef prices with the first BSE cases, the farmers lost and the consumers never really gained.

[milkmanfh]

I just want to make a quick comment about innovation in agriculture. The company I work for that provides agriculture nutrition solutions spends 10 of millions in research annually as do a many global leaders in the ag sector. They are market leaders in many markets, because farmers choose to deal with a progressive company. There are two types of farmers within the ag industry those that are progressive and those that are stubborn, that farming is a lifestyle and nothing else.