Guelph, ON – Grain Farmers of Ontario, the province’s largest commodity organization, representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers, congratulates the federal government, Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberal Party of Canada on their election win. Grain Farmers of Ontario extends its congratulations to all new and returning Members of Parliament as well.
“The world is in a state of uncertainty and Grain Farmers of Ontario is ready to work with our Members of Parliament across the province and country to help build stability and success for grain farmers. Agriculture is clearly one of Canada’s most important industries and we need a government that will ensure that Ontario grain farmers are globally competitive and have the supports in place to keep grain growing,” says Jeff Harrison, Chair, Grain Farmers of Ontario.
Recently, Grain Farmers of Ontario unveiled its federal priorities, and the organization urges the new government to be partners in these asks:
- Maintaining the free trade between the US and Canada that grains and oilseed farmers rely upon by:
- Ensuring that critical products imported into Canada for planting grains and oilseeds crops remain tariff free
- Ensuring that the exports of Ontario grain and oilseed commodities and products remain free of tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers
- Providing Ontario farmers ad hoc funding equivalent to the funding the US Administration provides US farmers
- Returning any tariff money collected from Ontario grain farmers directly back to Ontario grain farmers
- Directing stimulus funding to protect domestic processing and creating new markets
- Protecting and growing opportunities in China, the Asia Pacific Central and South America and the EU and UK as trade relationships change
- Creating tax fairness for grain and oilseed farmers by:
- Exempting grain farming from the carbon tax
- Exempting grain farmers from the increased Capital Gains Inclusion Rate
- Maintaining the pause on Bare & Blind Trust
- Reinstating the Capital Cost Allowance and Accelerated Investment Incentive Program
- Protecting grain farmers from escalating input prices and market volatility by providing 60 per cent funding for the RMP program for price stability during volatile times and stability during tariffs and make programming equivalent to the US business risk management suite
- Returning Ontario grain farmers to an even playing field with US farmers by removing the fertilizer tariffs and sanctions on Russian fertilizer imports
- Increasing investment to build markets for all renewable fuels particularly corn-based ethanol as both a market for Ontario grain and as a low-carbon fuel source
- Establishing an equitable distribution of research funding to support innovation in the Eastern grain sector and restore funding in plant breeding
- Raising Advance Payments Program funding from $250,000 to $350,000 permanently
- Returning agriculture and agrifood funding to BRM programs where it is most important, including removing and halting efforts to introduce environmental cross compliance
- Investing in Ontario’s food and beverage processing and export capacity to support new grain utilization opportunities
Source : GFO