There is a “statistically significant positive relationship” between Conservative power and subsidies to farmers dating back three decades in Canada, according to a new paper by University of Guelph economist John Cranfield and graduate students Tor Tolhurst and Shuang Li. The study – Are Governments of the Right Leviathan for Agriculture? – is slated to be presented next month at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The researchers tracked the number of Conservative-held seats and annual subsidies to farmers from 1986 to 2010, using figures on direct and indirect government support compiled by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. They also controlled for such factors as farm prices, trade deals and the government’s fiscal position. Over that period, subsidies in Canada have ranged between more than $8-billion (U.S.) to slightly less than $6-billion. Government support totalled $6.9-billion in 2011. The main beneficiaries of government support are Canadian dairy, poultry and egg producers, who set their own prices and are protected from most foreign competition by prohibitively high tariffs. There are also numerous “risk management” programs aimed at shielding farmers from such setbacks as disease, bad weather and high feed costs. theglobeandmail/report-on-business/rob-commentary/taxpayers-oblivious-to-the-cost-of-farm-subsidies/article13055078/
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 02:23:39 +0000
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