Supply Management is a solid anchor in the tariff storm: National Farmers’ Union, Canada
The National Farmers’ Union in Canada is calling on the federal and provincial governments to build resiliency and food sovereignty in response to President Trump’s tariffs and the retaliatory tariffs that the Canadian government has placed on select American products.
“Canadians must have access to the food we need by developing our capacity here at home. Farmers must be confident that their operations will be protected from economic uncertainty. President Trump’s disruptive strategy and lack of respect for rules means we can no longer consider trade agreements reliable. By calling for food sovereignty for Canadians we are talking about building community power to support a food system that works for people and the planet. Canadian institutions must provide stability and security to Canadian producers and consumers.” NFU statement reads
The NFU insists that supply Management is a solid anchor in the tariff storm. Dairy, poultry, and eggs are safe from tariff threats because they are raised, processed and consumed within Canada, in the right amounts at the right time to ensure there is enough without wasteful surpluses.
“Supply Management provides dairy, poultry, and egg farmers with a level of economic stability that is the envy of farmers in the US, and beyond. South of the border, when the market price of milk plummets, the economic hardship frequently causes farming families to lose their farms. This type of devastating price fluctuation for milk doesn’t happen in Canada. The reason: Supply Management.” writes Matthew Wiens, whose family raises dairy goats, laying hens, hay and vegetables as members of an agricultural cooperative near Beausejour, Manitoba.
As the name suggests, Supply Management imposes management upon the total supply of dairy, poultry and eggs produced in Canada, and ensures that the Canadian farmers produce no more, and no less, than the market needs. Managing supply helps prevent large swings in prices. It also eliminates massive overproduction and the resulting waste of good food that occurs in a number of other countries, including the US.
Managing supply, sometimes referred to as production discipline, is one of three key pillars of Canada’s Supply Management system. The other two key pillars of Supply Management are cost-of-production pricing, and import controls. Cost-of-production pricing ensures that farmers receive a fair income for their efforts. Import controls provide for predictable and adequate supply by preventing foreign products from flooding our markets and putting our farmers out of business.
Wiens adds, “Under Canada’s system Canadian consumers have the benefits of steady supply and steady prices. If a trade war happens, it will have minimal impact on our ability to buy milk, poultry and eggs, because we import and export very little of these foods. We produce domestically for a domestic market. Under supply management we have a certain level of food security with dairy, poultry and eggs that we don’t necessarily enjoy with things like beef, pork and vegetables. With Supply Management farmers are at not at risk of losing their markets and having to sell the farm due to a trade war with the United States, because they do not produce for the US market.”
NFU has emphasized that strengthening food sovereignty—the democratic control of important decisions about food and agriculture—is a key strategy to withstand President Trump’s economic pressure tactics, a strategy that will also build the resilience needed to better weather any coming storms. It has called upon the government to promote & build regional and local markets:
“Local markets are critical to food sovereignty. Local and direct sales keep dollars in communities and food production where the eaters are. As retailers seek to replace US imports, demand for Canadian food products will quickly outstrip existing supply. We need to ramp up production that serves the domestic market to reduce our dependence on imported food. Federal and Provincial governments must now commit to rebuilding our local and regional food production, processing, storage and distribution infrastructure so that Canada has reliable, long-term capacity to feed our population.”, the NFU statement reads.
The NFU also points out that Canada once had a thriving and diverse farm equipment manufacturing industry producing a full line of machinery. There is a great opportunity to re-tool and expand the national capacity to produce equipment designed for Canadian farms of all sizes and production types. An industrial strategy for Canada that includes farm machinery would have widespread benefits that extend beyond the agriculture sector, adds the statement.
The Union has also insisted that building a more resilient and robust Canadian food system means ensuring agriculture workers’ jobs in both fields and food processing plants are good jobs, with fair wages, safe working conditions, and for migrant workers, full labour rights, open work permits, and a pathway to citizenship. An agricultural labour strategy that recognizes the seasonality of Canadian farming, and which provides livable incomes for farm workers year-round will be necessary to build a long term, resident labour force.
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