Tobacco Farmers in Crisis Protest
July 10, 2006
The Tillsonburg News Farmers told full buyout strategy on the way DELHI – Is there light after the “darkest days” ever faced by Ontario’s tobacco growers? Tobacco board chair Fred Neukamm hopes so. Neukamm told the 49th annual meeting of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board here yesterday that joint meetings this week with government officials have launched a plan and timetable for a full exit from the industry for farmers. “Our goal is a resolution and direction (for an exit plan) by early fall,” he said. “There are several very complex issues that need to be dealt with, but everyone has their marching orders…the board will be doing everything it can… to advance the ball toward the goal posts.” After years of trying to remain viable throughout an onslaught of anti-tobacco government policies, Neukamm said the tobacco board over the past 12 months has “thrown up our hands. We give up.” “The war on tobacco and strategies geared toward the elimination of the industry have succeeded in snuffing out any glimmer of hope of survival for the tobacco grower in the long term,” he said. Jason Lietaer, general manager of the board, said the recent Smoke Free Ontario legislation, which made it illegal to smoke in the board’s head office and tobacco warehouse, was the “perfect example” of why the board has undertaken a full exit plan. At the heart of the plan proposed by the board is payment of $3.30 per pound for a grower’s basic production quota. Funding required is estimated at $897 million over a negotiated time period. A further $63.2 million would top up growers who received an earlier quota buyout, which cost $87.5 million. A special fund from the sale of tobacco products across Canada is suggested to finance the proposal. The plan also proposes funding of $150 million for a comprehensive redevelopment strategy for communities affected by the loss of their tobacco growing economy. Hugh Zimmer, a former Otterville area grower who got out under the earlier quota buyout program, warned the board should watchdog the disbursement of funds to community related projects. Zimmer cited a grant provided under the Community Transition Program for risers in the new gymnasium at Simcoe Composite School made under the guise of promoting tourism. “That’s just a horrible abuse (of the fund),” he said. Neukamm said he is heartened by commitments from both the federal and provincial governments to participate in the full exit process. He credited the support of local politicians, particularly MPP Toby Barrett and MP Diane Finley, who was guest speaker at the annual meeting. “Minister Finley has worked hard on our behalf and we are thankful for her guidance and assistance,” Neukamm said. This year’s crop size is 55.5 million pounds, the lowest in the history of the board. The 2005 crop resulted in 83.9 million pounds sold with a total value to producers of $182 million. May 29, 2006
By Joe Warmington Tough times for tobacco farmers SIMCOE -- Even tobacco farmers take time out for a cigarette break during the busy spring planting season. "They haven't yet defined whether my tractor constitutes a workplace," Chris VanPaassen jokes. Just give them time. If there is a way for the anti-smoking crusaders -- and the governments they control -- to fine a tobacco grower for smoking on his own land, they will find it. It's pretty humbling to be a tobacco farmer these days -- an unfairly labelled pariah who just happens to help provide billions to governments while barely surviving himself. But there they are, law-abiding farmers growing the filler for this year's cigarette stock, trying to feed their families. For now, at least. Who knows for how much longer. "It's the only job I have ever had," VanPaassen says. "I have been doing it my whole life." Nobody likes to see his life's work go up in smoke -- something happening to a lot of people in this region known for great tobacco. VanPaassen's dad, Peter, farmed this land for decades and still helps out at 83. The younger VanPaassen doubts whether he's going to be able to pass it along to his children -- all non-smokers who have other career ambitions. Times are changing. "We in this region are down to (the harvesting) of 55 million pounds," he says. "The largest crop we had was 250 million." In fact, tobacco farming around Simcoe, Delhi and Tillsonburg was king. The King is dead, or at least on life support. "The whole economy in Norfolk County is based on tobacco," VanPaassen says. "There was $60 million less into this area's economy from last year. Talk to any economist and they will tell you that is going to hurt." Empty storefronts illustrate that hurt -- a direct result of there being 700 tobacco farmers now, compared to a high of 4,000. It's heartbreaking for VanPaassen, vice-chairman of the Ontario Flue-cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board. He sees his colleagues having difficulty making ends meet. "And this is a legal product we grow," he says. "We are honest, hard-working farmers. Governments across this country collect $10 billion a year off tobacco." In addition, he points out, "the cigarette companies are still making a profit while the tobacco farmers are not." To add insult to injury, farmers spent $100,000 recently to get their tobacco drying kilns up to environmental standards. "Everything we do is regulated by government policy," VanPaassen says. "In some Third World nations that grow tobacco they seem to be able to cut down their rainforests and use child labour and have no rules. We can't compete with that." Cheaper tobacco, in cost and in quality, has had a huge impact on the industry. The writing is on the wall and tobacco growers know it. And since all of Canada's other special interest groups seem to get taxpayers' assistance, soon it will have to be their turn. It's only right. They are not exactly a drain on the system -- having provided billions to government coffers. Maybe it's time for some of that to go back to help the forgotten victims of the anti-smoking age and help them turn the page. "We need an exit plan," VanPaassen says. "We have tabled a proposal." He said both the McGuinty and Harper governments are supportive. The message is simple. "If government policy dictates they don't want us here, then government policy should dictate some compensation to the growers for their investment in the tobacco industry." Elusive 'magic crop' He has a point. But people often ask, 'Why don't they just grow something else?' Easier said than done. "If you find the magic crop, you would be a millionaire," teased Linda Lietaer of the marketing board. "We have been working on it," VanPaassen said. "We have tried peanuts and vegetables but so far we have not found one." The problem is the land itself. "If you look through history before tobacco this was a dust bowl," he said. "The sandy soil is not good for a lot of other crops." Even if it was, a new crop would "disrupt some other agriculture sector." And there is another problem. "A lot of this equipment has no other use," VanPaassen says. "The investment we have made is in tobacco." So you can see there will have to be discussions about what to do about another dying Canadian industry. But for now tobacco farmers are in the middle of planting season. In the spring, tobacco farmers look to the future and wonder what kind of crop this year will bring. But they all know winter is coming and perhaps the end of a long, dusty tobacco road. However, before the industry is extinguished, and since the ban has yet to hit the fields, it's time for another smoke. Read
Farmers protest at food distribution centres
Apr. 13 2006
Ontario farmers continued their series of protests on Thursday by targeting food distribution terminals with lines of pickup trucks and tractors circling buildings.
Farmers have been staging protests for weeks, aimed at pressuring the provincial government for aid money.
In Whitby, Ont. Thursday morning about 20 tractors delayed transport trucks from entering or leaving a wholesale food centre. In Cambridge approximately 150 vehicles slowed traffic at a Loblaw distribution terminal.
Approximately 20 similar protests have taken place throughout Ontario, including a large gathering at Queen's Park that started four days in advance of the provincial budget.
But their efforts for more provincial money did not pay off.
Instead, the budget made a dramatic reduction in special one-time assistance for farmers -- just $16 million in 2006-07, down from $277 million the year before.
It was the second straight Ontario budget to reduce total agriculture spending from a record high of $1.4 billion in 2004-05.
Farmers are saying they are in deep financial trouble and will go out of business unless government provides a long-term assistance plan.
They have vowed to continue their until the 2007 provincial election.
But there will be a break in the protests as farmers enter the spring planting season.
Tobacco crop size facing 30 per cent cut
Daniel Pearce SIMCOE REFORMER Wednesday April 05, 2006
Simcoe Reformer — Tobacco farmers face a “catastrophic” cut in crop size this year that will push more of them out of business, the chair of their marketing board has warned.
“Preliminary indicators show we’ll have a 30 per cent decline from ’05 to ’06,” said Fred Neukamm, chair of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board. “We’ve never seen that steep of a decline from one year to the next.
“It’s catastrophic.”
Most growers report they are now losing or barely breaking even following 20 years of steadily declining prices and crop sizes.
Further cuts will create “a difficult market” that some won’t survive, Neukamm told the Reformer.
“Financial institutions have told us that some growers did not cover last year’s capital (borrowed money). They say they’ll be using more scrutiny. Some won’t get financing.”
Right now, the board is in talks with the federal and provincial governments to come up with a second round of buyouts for farmers in the past two years. The hope is to get enough people to leave the industry to keep remaining growers profitable.
With spring planting only a month away, “we need a big comprehensive plan and we need it quickly,” Neukamm said.
If the 30 per cent cut comes true, the 2006 crop will be roughly 60 million pounds. That’s one-third of what it was a decade ago, and less than a quarter of its historic peak.
Growers blame the anti-smoking movement and an increase in imported leaf being used by cigarette companies.
The board is in talks with the federal government over the buyout -- talks that were delayed by January’s election -- in conjunction with the yearly negotiation of crop size and price.
Neukamm said that government officials who have been in touch with the companies gave him the 30 per cent figure.
“That number could vary upward or downward,” he said.
In interviews with the Reformer, board officials reiterated they are ultimately seeking a total buyout for all farmers and a complete wind-up of the growing industry in Canada.
Board general manager Jason Lietaer said there is little point in growing tobacco when government documents clearly show it wants to “eradicate smoking in Canada. They’re saying ‘We’re going to put tobacco consumption out of business.’ We say ‘Fine. Let’s put something in place to deal with it.’”
Neukamm said there is “no appetite” in Canada for a U.S.-style buyout in which growers are compensated and then allowed to grow in a wide-open market system without a board to represent them.
“We’re suggesting a long-term exit strategy that, when it’s completed, will see the elimination of tobacco production in Canada completely,” Neukamm said.
However, local MP and minister of human resources and social development Diane Finley has said in the past that there are farmers who want to try to grow without market supports.
Farmers rally in Ottawa to seek billions in aid
Apr. 5 2006 As thousands of angry, cash-strapped farmers rallied on Parliament Hill, Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl said he would fight for an additional $2.5 billion in farm aid over five years. Read
Letter to sentinelreview@bowesnet.comBC Tobacco producers Offer help to Ontario We in BC can empathize with the plight of your Ontario growers. When our Tobacco industry shut down in the 1950's many growers lost their farms for a lack of alternatives,or any help from Government. In recent years we have developed a format to exclude Government from the revenue stream,and put the farmers on a far more profitable footing. In 2003,we as a Co-Op ,came too Tilsonburge,Delhi to introduce our format to the struggling farmers,and our financial support to effect the change. Governments response was swift. We were tied up in court actions by a combined effort of the Federal,and Provincial Revenue Departments. I am concerned that our delayed entry into your region has impacted our reputation with the growers,and Realtors involved in our plans at that time. The legal challenges now having been dealt with in our favor we are coming back to "Joint Venture",or buy out any interested farmers. Our advise to your growers "don't panic,or break the Laws governing your product.Challenging a bully gets a black eye(or worse).If you are interested in alternatives, have your directors, or Lawyers drop us a line to Brian Downey of Canada U-Grow via email fryguy92@hotmail.com titled "Alternatives info wanted" . And please cut Brian Mcbride, our Realtor some slack. He is a good man with your industry interests at heart. It was not his fault we have been delayed until now. Regards, Brian
"Illegal" sales held -ON
By Daniel Pearce - Sun Media Tuesday March 28, 2006
SMALL CLAIMS COURT CITED AS OPTION FOR TOBACCO GROWERS
DELHI - Struggling tobacco farmers were urged to take their marketing board and the provincial government to small claims court as they conducted an "illegal" sale of their crops Monday morning.
About 300 people gathered in the auction exchange parking lot to sell bales of tobacco to each other rather than go through the formal bidding system inside - which is required under law.
Standing on a platform and speaking into a microphone, president of the Ontario Landowners‚ Association, Randy Hillier, told the group packages will be available soon instructing them on how to sue the McGuinty government and the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers‚ Marketing board.
"The maximum you can get is $10,000," Hillier said. "Ten-thousand dollars is not the same as having a tobacco industry, but it will send a message to the government that we’ll use whatever means possible to protect the industry.
"We’ll tie up small claims court against the government and the marketing board. That’s 10,000 times 500 (growers)."
He cited McGuinty’s "war on tobacco farmers" (through higher cigarette taxes), a provincewide smoking ban and the board’s "willingness" to protect the growers it represents.
The protest comes as the tobacco growing industry continues its downward slide. Crop size has shrunk by roughly half in the past decade, while prices have fallen below costs.
At one time, there were 3,700 growers. Last year, about 200 took advantage of a government buyout program.
The tobacco board has warned the industry is headed for extinction and has called for a second exit plan - a demand that was reiterated Monday by growers and activists.
"All our savings are gone," said grower Diane Szalkai of Langton, who estimated many farmers are losing $40,000 a year. "Our children are working on the farm for nothing.
"We should be pensioned off. We put enough taxes into the government. They should help us out."
Dwayne VanBiesen of RR 1 Otterville blamed cigarette companies and the government "for destroying the whole thing. This (protest) is mocking the system (of selling tobacco)."
Szalkai was one of the first people to step forward and pay $80 for a bale of tobacco - that’s about $2 a pound.
The gathering was told that farmers are now getting as little as 50 cents a pound at the auction. One pound, they were told, can produce four cartons of cigarettes, which would sell for $280 in stores.
"I’ll shred it and smoke it, with the rest of my stuff," Szalkai said as he loaded the bale into the side of a mini-van.
Police were parked nearby while three constables stayed inside the exchange. No arrests were made.
Norfolk OPP Const. Mark Foster questioned whether any laws were broken.
"Where it will probably end up is back here tomorrow to finish off their sales," Foster said, who called the growers‚ actions "symbolic."
Simcoe area grower Jim Schunk said he was unsure if he’ll take the board to small claims court.
"I think the government has our board’s hands tied," he said. "We’re making money for governments but they don’t seem to want us to continue our industry."
Chris Van Paassen, vice-chair of the tobacco board, declined to comment on the threatened lawsuits, saying the board wants to first see what instructions are given to growers by the landowners association.
"What went on there today is not a problem," said Van Paassen, who attended the protest. "It’s a symptom of the problem." - Simcoe Reformer Read
Some Tobacco Farmers Plan To SueMarch 28, 2006 Some local tobacco farmers are looking to the courts to solve their financial woes. Yesterday during a protest in Delhi Randy Hillier, head of the Lanark Landowners Association, told a crowd of hundreds they will be suing the government in small claims court to get farmers the money they deserve. Hillier says it wouldn't be the same as a buyout as farmers could only see about 10 thousand dollars a piece. Hillier tells CD 989 the buyout may never happen, because the government keeps stalling. Hillier adds they plan to take legal action against the province as well as the local tobacco marketing board for not representing them properly Read
Tobacco rally set for Monday -ON
By Jeff Helsdon - Staff Writer Wednesday March 22, 2006
RALLY: Organizational meeting slated for Thursday in Langton
The Tillsonburg News — The latest farm protest planned will involve illegal sale of flue-cured tobacco.
Monday morning at the Delhi auction exchange, bales of tobacco will go up for sale. This won’t be the usual auction that takes place inside the building though. This sale will be outside and all the money will go to farmers.
Randy Hillier, president of the Ontario Landowners’ Association, said the government is bringing in billions of dollars in taxes, the big three tobacco companies posted $1.5 billion in profits in 2004 and the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board is making a profit. Meanwhile, farmers are going broke.
“It’s a serious and significant case of injustice for tobacco farmers,” he said. “It’s not a problem for just 500 to 600 farmers. So should we just sit back and allow destruction of rural economics while three big companies and government make money and the tobacco farmer just gets screwed.”
Local organizer and OLA affiliate Oxford Norfolk Elgin Landowners president John VanDaele said tobacco farmers are going through the worst market since 1957. Acreage in 2005 was also the smallest crop in 50 years and the lowest gross margin per acre since the board was established.
“If tobacco farmers were dogs, the humane society would have stepped in a long time ago,” he said. “Nobody would allow a dog to be treated the way tobacco farmers are treated.
“We want to go and the government is forcing us to stay. We’ve been beat. They’ve declared war on us and they won.” Forget licences, Hillier said of the Monday sale of tobacco. The tobacco will be sold to anybody who wants it. Asked who will be conducting the auction, Hillier said those details are still being worked out.
During the day, workshops and demonstrations will be held on how to cut and blend tobacco using household appliances. “So people can make a cottage industry out of tobacco,” Hillier explained.
Asked about the possibility of losing quota as a penalty for selling outside the auction exchange, VanDaele, said, “It there’s a whole bunch of bales there, whose are they?”
Asked what he hope to accomplish through this protest, Hillier said the “irreparable damage” being done to farmers and the economy of rural Ontario has to be demonstrated to the public . He said cigarette manufacturers closing plants in rural areas hurt the economy while a handful of companies derive what he called “obscene” profits.
“We have to demonstrate this is unfair, unjust and can’t be tolerated,” he said.
VanDaele said tobacco farmers have been quiet over the past couple of months and hopes they haven’t given up the fight. “Now is the time to make a stand and demand accountability from all Tobacco Advisory Committee members, including the board,” he said.
An organizational meeting is planned for Thursday night. It will start at 8 p.m. at the Langton Community Centre. VanDaele encouraged all farmers concerned about the future to show up to the meeting to hear all the details prior to the rally.
Besides tobacco farmers, he appealed to bar owners, variety store owners and others who will be affected by the provincewide smoking ban for support. Hillier said plans are to involve smokers’ rights groups as well.
In the meantime, VanDaele is facing the same dilemma as other tobacco farmers. Last year he grew 55 acres of tobacco on two farms. Despite growing what he considered an excellent crop, he ended up losing money. Time to seed greenhouses is fast approaching.
“You can’t put a greenhouse in not knowing the crop size,” he said. “Do I put in half a greenhouse? A quarter greenhouse? What’s the price going to be?”
There is one way Monday’s protest can be averted. VanDaele said all that’s needed is a government announcement of the total exit plan for tobacco farmers the board has been working on.
“We want to go and the government is forcing us to stay. We’ve been beat. They’ve declared war on us and they won.” -- John VanDaele Read
Not enough cash for cash crops
Farmers circle legislature as bomb note found
The Canadian Press
Mar 21, 2006
A hand-written bomb threat appeared to mark the start of a peaceful protest yesterday as a group of Ontario farmers fired up their tractors and circled the legislature in an effort to win more financial help in the coming provincial budget.
The threat was discovered at the downtown offices of Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky, who was in British Columbia at the time for a meeting with her fellow provincial and federal counterparts to talk about long-term assistance for farmers.
There was no indication whether the threat was aimed at the minister or linked to the protest. The incident was reported to both Toronto and provincial police but officials weren't immediately available for comment.
"I am somewhat disturbed with the rhetoric that has evolved in certain sectors, particularly the grains and oilseeds sector," said Dombrowsky, as she specifically referenced the threat, which she described as "concerning."
Several agriculture leaders have already received threatening phone calls, she added.
"I'm very concerned because truly, I believe this does not reflect what's in the hearts and the minds of the majority of farmers in the province."
Government Services spokesman Jason Wesley said a note scribbled on a washroom hand towel was found in an elevator in the downtown office building that houses the minister's office along with other government offices, including the Archives of Ontario.
"It simply said: Bomb 11 a.m.," Wesley said.
Earlier yesterday, a handful of tractors began lining up around the legislature before sunrise, slowing but not stopping traffic on the street surrounding the building. The protest is slated to continue until Thursday's provincial budget.
As provincial and territorial agriculture ministers met in B.C. with federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl, Dombrowsky noted that the farmers' fight is with Ottawa, not with the Ontario government.
"There is unanimity among the provinces that the federal government must play an integral role in addressing the immediate and pressing needs in certain (agriculture) sectors."
Earlier this month, Ontario gave $125 million in short-term aid to the beleaguered agricultural sector, but farmers complained it was insufficient. They want loan guarantees, a short-term moratorium on bank foreclosures and more spending by the province on programs to help get farmers out of debt. Read
Angry farmers set to stage protests
Mar 20, 2006
Beleaguered Ontario farmers staging a four-day protest outside the provincial legislature starting today warn they don't know how much longer they can contain the anger and desperation that's coursing through rural communities.
"They really don't care what actions they take, because they have nothing left to lose," said Joe Hickson of Ontario's Unified Voice for Agriculture. "It's getting quite desperate out there. I honestly don't know how much longer we can harness this frustration before it goes beyond our control."
In an effort to influence agriculture spending in Thursday's provincial budget, the group will launch a rolling protest outside the legislature today with two dozen tractors circling Queen's Park, and hopes they'll be joined by more through the week.
Hickson said they plan to block the entrance to the legislature, and possibly the surrounding downtown Toronto roadway, on budget day.
"This crisis has been brewing for so long it's far beyond the farm thing now," he noted. "It's the whole rural infrastructure that's in jeopardy."
Earlier this month, the province announced $125 million in short-term aid for the beleaguered agriculture sector.
Hickson called the funding "an insult" that only addresses past shortfalls in agriculture income.
"It's for damage already incurred. There's no indication of what they are doing for crops about to be put into the land."
On April 4-5, the group will take the protest to the nation's capital where they plan to block traffic on city streets. Read
Farming crisis 'destroying families,' politicians told
February 19, 2006
John Paul Zronik
A crisis in farming is destroying families and entire communities, three local politicians heard Friday.
“We admit we’re defeated,” said Stan Symons, Brant County representative on the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board. “Families are virtually being destroyed in some cases. Communities, churches and businesses are being destroyed.”
About 20 farmers gathered at a Paris restaurant for a Brant County Federation of Agriculture meeting that allowed local producers the chance to share concerns about the future of their commodities.
Beef, pork, dairy, fruit, vegetable, wheat, tobacco and corn growers all made presentations to those gathered, including Brant MP Lloyd St. Amand, MPP Dave Levac and Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett.
None of the growers expressed much optimism for the future.
The most serious concern was expressed by Symons, who said tobacco farmers are facing the worst market for their product in Ontario’s history. He said some can’t even sell all of last season’s crop.
“High taxation is having its desired effect,” Symons said. “We feel we should be compensated for this because our livelihood is being destroyed.”
More than an economic problem, Symons said the decline of tobacco is having a devastating social impact. He said farmers continue to lose equity built up through years of farming, sometimes across generations, putting pressure on families.
“Some people are going to be pretty much broke with this trend,” Symons said.
Ed Kloepfer, who grows corn, beets and wheat near Harley, expressed concern that Canadian farmers can’t compete against subsidized U.S. growers.
“We envy (U.S.) programs,” Kloepfer said. “Here, it’s different. It seems to be an everlasting (battle) to get government support.
“The banks are calling now. They want to know what we’re going to do to get our debt down.”
Fairfield’s Kevin Hodge, 34, said he’s concerned about the financial future of his farming operation.
“None of the commodities I grow...are selling at a profit,” Hodge said. “How do I justify to a bank that they will get their money back? Right now, the bank looks at me and says, Why would anybody your age want to do this? It’s unsustainable.’
“We’re almost in a death spiral. Every year, it seems to be getting worse.”
John Nunan, representing the Brant Cattlemens’ Association, said the BSE crisis is still affecting farmers across the country.
“It’s not behind us at all,” Nunan said. “The closure of the U.S. border has devastated the purebred livestock industry in Canada.”
Nunan also said Canadian farmers need to take a proactive approach when to comes to reforming agriculture.
“The commodity groups are the experts on what’s needed and we need to come up with the ideas,” Nunan said. “We can’t count on governments.”
Stan Pepper, a member of the Brant County Dairy Producers’ Committee, said Canadian dairy products are being displaced by foreign imports.
“Our Canadian government keeps allowing more and more imports into the country,” Pepper said. “We need continued support for our system.”
Charles Welsh, with the Central Erie Fruit and Vegetable Growers, said he wants retailers to put more of a focus on selling Ontario-grown products. It was an idea farmer Sandy Vos agreed with, suggesting the government mandate that 30 per cent of food sold in Canada be produced here.
Larry Davis, Brant County representative with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, said problems facing various commodities are having an impact in rural communities.
“Rural Ontario is under attack from a financial standpoint,” Davis said in an interview. “If (farmers) don’t have a dollar to spend, they can’t support business in rural Ontario.”
Davis, who organized Friday’s meeting, said the first step required to bring stability to agriculture is a better market for products. Because world trade impacts the price farmers can sell their products for, he said government should assist farmers operating at a loss because of low commodity prices.
“If we aren’t going to get (a fair price) from the marketplace due to global trade, we want governments to step up,” he said.
Davis said Friday’s event helped show politicians the seriousness of the situation facing farmers in Brant.
“When the politicians come down here to the grassroots, they get the picture that this is reality,” he said.
Brant MP St. Amand said government needs to address issues facing farmers.
“This may well be a real watershed point for Canadian agriculture,” St. Amand said. “It’s at the critical point for tobacco growers and for others.”
St. Amand promised to present concerns expressed on Friday to new Conservative agriculture minister Chuck Strahl, who St. Amand said was a good choice for the position.
“I will be politely, but persistently, in his face about issues that affect Brant County farmers,” St. Amand said.
MPP Levac said the province is working towards long-term solutions for agriculture that involve agribusiness, farm families and rural communities.
“There is indeed a crisis and a need for a solution,” Levac said. “The only way to get out of the perfect storm is to have everybody at the table.”
Levac promised to send concerns presented Friday to Premier Dalton McGuinty and provincial government ministers.
“I’m going to help you as much as I can,” Levac said. “We’ll get through this. At the end of the day, I believe we’ll get through this.”
MPP Barrett said he understands the situation facing farmers, its seriousness exemplified in seven major farm rallies in the past 12 months.
“You lose your farm, you lose your house,” Barrett said. “That’s what some farmers are dealing with.”
Barrett said all parties in the Ontario legislature are working together to find a solution for tobacco growers who want to exit the industry.
Tobacco growers want total buyout -ON
Daniel Pearce Times-Reformer
December 13, 2005
Neukamm: ‘We need to fix the problem once and for all’
Simcoe Reformer — Faced with an industry it says is no longer “sustainable,” the tobacco board has called for a total buyout of Canada’s remaining 600 growers.
In a position paper it has sent to every federal election candidate in Canada, the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board is asking for “a full exit plan” to be carried “out over a defined time period.”
“What we’re saying is we need to fix the problem once and for all,” said board chair Fred Neukamm. “For our growing community to die a death of a thousand cuts is unacceptable.”
The industry has been declining steadily for more than 20 years due to the anti-smoking movement and the increased use of cheaper imported leaf by Canadian cigarette manufacturers.
At 85 million pounds, this year’s crop is almost one-half what it was seven years ago and about one-third of its historic peak. At one time, the industry supported 3,700 growers.
The price fetched at the market also continues to decline, forcing farm operations into money-losing positions.
Last spring, more than 200 growers took a government buyout and there have been calls for another program before negotiations for the 2006 crop start.
Neukamm said the situation has “deteriorated to the point that it is unsustainable.”
The board needs to be “aggressive,” he said, because the “issue is not being taken seriously” by government and manufacturers.
“If they don’t want us here anymore, we’re prepared to discuss our departure,” Neukamm said.
The board will try to make the buyout proposal a campaign issue starting in the tobacco ridings of southwestern Ontario.
Haldimand-Norfolk MP and Conservative ag critic Diane Finley said she has been talking to producers and has found opinion on the issue “to be all over the map.
“Some people are surprised the board took that long to take this position,” Finley said. “Others are surprised they got there so soon and are not fighting to keep the industry alive.
“A lot of issues are not addressed by the board proposal. Those are pretty broad principles (in the board’s paper).”
Asked if she supports a total buyout, she said: “I’m not going to make promises I can’t keep.”
Liberal candidate and former federal ag minister Bob Speller said: “I told them I would sit down with them and work with them to help farmers and their communities.”
NDP candidate Valya Roberts could not be reached for comment.
A widespread buyout would involve government funds -- and possibly money from cigarette companies -- that would help retire farmers’ debts and get them into another line of work or different crops.
In the U.S., tobacco growers were bought out under a program that has allowed some of them to continue growing tobacco that sells at a much lower price than before.
Windham Centre area farmer Doug Morrison, whose family has been growing since the 1940s, said he welcomed the proposal and would like to see a program similar to the one in the United States.
“We’d all like to go on, but we can’t,” said Morrison. “Sooner or later, I’m going to lose my job. But it’s more than that. It’s everything we’ve built up.
“It’s sad we’ve got to this point.”
Brian Edwards, president of Tobacco Farmers in Crisis, a second lobby group, said his group’s position remains that cigarettes sold in Canada should contain Canadian-grown tobacco only.
The government, he said, has the power under trade laws to legislate the content of the product.
Who’s standing up for tobacco farmers?
The Woodstock Sentinel-Review
Linda Duguay - RR 1, Allenford, Ont.
Monday October 17, 2005
Woodstock is in Oxford County, one of the few counties that grows tobacco in Canada. There is a need for this product obviously. There are smokers.
Ignoring the farmers who are caught in the middle of the debate shows a complete lack of compassion by the newspaper for the families and friends and neighbours being devastated by these events.
The Flue board was forced to accept lower tobacco prices and lower volumes this year, because of lower-priced imported tobacco and higher cigarette taxes. The amount of imported tobacco has risen to about 10 million pounds, from four million over the past five years. Rather than protecting the economy our government, with its ill conceived social engineering agenda is destroying farms and businesses, causing Ontario to become a "have not province.’’
There is still at least 20 per cent of the Canadian population smoking, according to Stats Canada. Although it makes you wonder how many there really are, crime rates have increased, smuggled and contraband tobacco has become a big underground business. There are pesticides and different curing process in foreign tobacco, which may endanger the smokers.
In other words there is a need for quality Ontario tobacco.
"When you take $150,000 out of the cash flow of an individual (farmer) in three years’ time, it hurts big time," Brian Edwards, president of Tobacco Farmers In Crisis, said in April. Since June OCAT (Ontario Coalition Against Tobacco) has asked people to "contact MPPs in your province/riding to ask that funding be restored to Health Canada’s tobacco control program prior to funding being given to tobacco farmers."
It’s obvious that OCAT cares more about its continued government funding than reasonable legislation and supportive funding to productive, taxpaying farmers and citizens.
It’s also obvious the tobacco control extremists realize how much they are actually hurting people who just want to be able to live. Increased funding for their "charity" and its highly paid executives is obviously more important to them, than providing support for the farmers in your area who are being forced into bankruptcy.
I agree with Nancy Daigneault of mychoice. We do need honest and factual information from both sides of the issue.
The president of Action on Smoking and Health said in January that banning smoking in workplaces doesn’t hurt businesses. "Five provinces and territories have already brought in universal smoking bans,’’ he said. "The only industry that is affected by smoking bans is the tobacco industry.’’
All of the evidence from areas already subject to smoking bans proves that the actual damage to the economy is widespread and negatively effects the jobs of people in many different walks of life.
The damage to farmers is just the tip of the iceberg; we should all worry about.
Tobacco Farmers in Crisis propose $1.1 billion buyout
Organization looking for more members
Flue board hires consultant to help with exit strategy
EXIT: Producers to be consulted
By Jeff Helsdon Staff Writer Friday September 16, 2005
Tillsonburg News — The Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board is consulting with outside professionals in a bid to complete a long-term exit plan for growers and to restructure the board.
Deloitte has been retained by the board to guide it through the strategic planning process for its future and to help the board refocus its priorities. The second part of the study will look at board governance.
“We want to relaunch a push towards a long-term exit strategy for tobacco farmers as well as some things that can help maintain tobacco growing as viable for as long as possible,” said board general manager Jason Lietaer.
He said the plan will be presented to the manufacturers and used to communicate the farmers’ position to government. The strategic planning exercise will be used to set long-term and short-term priorities for the board.
“It’s essentially a business plan for the tobacco industry in Canada,” Lietaer said.
The intent is to consult producers on what’s being proposed in early October. It’s public launch will be sometime this fall.
Part 2 of the Deloitte consultant’s work is a review of the governance structure of the board. The goal is to instil best management practices into the board’s system.
“We want to ensure it’s the right operation to ensure board members can get their job done effectively,” Lietaer said.
A questionnaire to gain producer input into the various suggestions will be mailed out to producers in the next week. Information sessions will be held for producers in the near future.
Lietaer said one thing up for discussion is a reduction in the number of tobacco board directors. A faction of producers have been pushing for a cut in the number of directors to accompany the reduction in the number flue growers.
The general manager said there has been been a move towards moving from a working-type board to a governance model board.
“The objective of the board is to continue to move to that type of governance where the board sets policy and staff implements policy,” he said.
Lietaer was clear that if there is a recommendation to reduce the size of the board, and the board accepts it, there won’t be a reduction in the number of directors in this fall’s board election. He has already talked to Farm Products Marketing Commission and was told with the necessary regulatory red tape any potential changes to the board size won’t be implemented until next fall.
“We want to relaunch a push towards a long-term exit strategy for tobacco farmers as well as some things that can help maintain tobacco growing as viable for as long as possible.”
Tobacco Farmers in Crisis propose $1.1 billion buyout
Organization looking for more members
Jeff Helsdon - Staff Writer
Monday February 14, 2005
The Tillsonburg News — The ante to compensate Canadian tobacco farmers has just been upped. About 600 farmers turned out to a meeting hosted by Tobacco Farmers in Crisis Thursday night at the Special Events Centre in Tillsonburg to hear the organization’s Industry Rationalization Framework Proposal. It calls for $1.1 billion US to put Ontario growers on the same playing field as their American counterparts. The plan differs from the United States buyout, however, in that Canadian growers must quit growing once they receive a payout. TFIC director Brian Edwards explained the total American buyout funding is $9.6 billion US. “In the United States, the objective is not to eliminate tobacco production but to move abruptly to a lower cost and improved quality product and a free market system with no price support programs,” he said. “The United States objective is to compensate the grower for the loss of equity. In the future, there will be no production restrictions or safety net supports.” What TFIC is proposing is based on the 2002 crop year. At that time, Edwards explained, there was a three-year agreement with a stable size and a promise from industry to reduce imports. Both of those promises were eventually broken. That was also the year farmers were required to invest in nitrosamine-free burners. “They told us we had a future,” he said, adding growers were told they had to convert their kilns. “Commitments were made by every grower in this room and debts were incurred based on that agreement.” The $1.1 billion USD figure was arrived at by rationalizing the US and Ontario crop sizes in 2002 and the multiplying it to the value of the American buyout. The price per pound is calculated by dividing by the 323 million pounds of base quota in Ontario into $1.1billion US resulting in a price of $4.18 (Canadian) per pound. For a farmer leaving the industry, their total quota is then multiplied by $4.18 per pound to calculate the buyout figure. The plan would also address the needs of sharegrowers. The total buyout per farm, based on an average of 350,000 pounds of base quota, would be $1.463 million. It is proposed payments could be taken in a lump sum or 10 annual payments. The package framework provides for the trade to continue to negotiate their annual crop requirements with the board, while providing growers an option to leave as they see fit over the next 10 years. The framework is designed to reduce the total quota by 118 million pounds, or to a level of 43-per-cent growable. TFIC now intends to offer its proposal to the government, the board and growers. “I almost feel like Martin Luther King,” Stewart said. “We have a dream, we believe this is possible. We are just asking for fair and equitable treatment.” Tobacco lobbyist Luc Martial, who was hired by TFIC, told the farmers in attendance that paying each farm family $1million-plus may seem like a huge, unattainable amount, but it is not. He said the pension plan paid each senior government employee is worth $1.5 million, and they have no capital involved. The average tobacco producer is $400,000 in debt and has no pension plan other than their farm and other capital. He also said the figure could be justified because tobacco control programs have made it difficult for Ontario producers to supply the Canadian market. Current demand for leaf is 75 million pounds. “The reality is your ability to service the Canadian market has eroded at a faster rate than the market has declined,” Martial said. “If we could service the Canadian market, we wouldn’t be here today.” TFIC plans to lobby politicians at both the provincial and federal level to implement the plan, but only when its membership numbers are higher. Martial told the crowd they needed as many members as possible by the March 1 deadline to make the plan work . Funding for the plan would come entirely from the government. To date, TFIC has already met with several politicians, the tobacco board and even anti-smoking organizations. Martial said even the anti-smoking groups believe a tobacco buyout plan should be worth $1 billion. The only reaction from the crowd was questioning why the tobacco board hadn’t come up with such a plan on its own. Diane Meulemeester asked why when growers pay the board a marketing fee they need to pay TFIC another $1,000? Edwards answered the board is more limited in what it can do and, as a marketing board, is actually an arm of the government. “We really let our board down as growers by not supporting them,” he said. “They struggle hard putting a proposal to government to put in place.” Prompted by another question from John VanDaele about the board, Edwards said TFIC’s only agenda is a compensation package for growers while the board has many concerns on its plate. “We need a board in place for crop negotiations in the future,” he said. “We may not agree with some of the things the board is doing, but that’s what the ballot box is for.” Board Chairman Fred Neukamm, who was in attendance at the meeting, called the TFIC proposal interesting, although he questioned if it is doable at the level of $1.1 billion. “From my perspective, if their efforts help us to achieve a fair and equitable settlement, it is good,” he said. Neukamm who personally is currently not a member of TFIC. He said he is considering joining, however. Earlier in the meeting, TFIC’s lawyer explained how the organization had become an incorporated non-profit entity. John Wehrstein, constituency assistant for Haldimand-Norfolk MP Diane Finley, made a presentation on her behalf as she is in Washington dealing with BSE. Wehrstein said Finley realized farmers were losing their livelihood as a result of direction action of the government. “Under the World Health Organization rules, when governments force industries out of business they must adequately compensate those industries,” he said. Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant MPP Toby Barrett told the farmers he has been fighting for provincial compensation and encouraged them to keep lobbying. Delhi-area farmer Mark Bannister talked about high stress levels and how government legislation has negatively impacted his quality of life. Still, he said he will fight and not give up the farm. Read
Cda's tobacco farmers battle debt, depression as industry hits hard times
Tara Brautigam Canadian Press Saturday, September 17, 2005
DELHI, Ont. (CP) - A faint cinnamon-like aroma wafts from the barns and kilns of this southwestern Ontario town, the heart of Canada's tobacco belt.
It's harvest, and the country's tobacco farmers are reaping the rewards of four months in the fields.
But bankruptcy and depression are taking their toll on the growers, many of whom have left the family business after decades of tilling. Farmers say alcoholism and drug abuse are on the rise because of the crushing debt.
"Ask the local doctors around what kind of anxiety level farmers and their wives and their children are under," says Brian Edwards, a tobacco grower of 30 years who sold his business last year.
"There's lots of depression. Suicide is a very last resort for people . . . that's a real fear."
Mark Bannister, a tobacco farmer in nearby Vanessa, Ont., since 1980, speaks of one farmer "hitting the bottle pretty hard" and another under close watch because his family is worried he might take his life.
"This is a man now that's on 24-hour a day surveillance by his family. He's depressed. He's on antidepressants, day in, day out," he says, looking to the ground.
"People are scared."
There were more than 4,500 tobacco farms throughout Canada in the 1960s. A decade ago there were about 1,650 growers.
Today there are 680, virtually all toiling in a small stretch of land north of Lake Erie known for its natural irrigation and fertile soils that provide Canadian tobacco a distinct flavour unlike any other in the world.
"This could be our last year," says Joe Stachura, a tobacco farmer of 25 years in Delhi, a quiet town of 16,000.
"We have no idea what our future holds for us."
While the agricultural industry overall has hit hard times in recent years, tobacco farmers find themselves in an unusual dilemma all their own - growing a product that, albeit legal, has been blamed for the premature deaths of 45,000 Canadians annually.
Every province except Alberta has passed some form of smoking ban in public places such as bars and restaurants.
"What we are trying very hard to convince government of is that, as they pursue these types of aggressive policies, there has to be a balance in addressing the needs of the farmers that those types of policies are really displacing," says Fred Neukamm, chairman of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board.
As farmers turned away from tobacco, accordingly, tobacco crops have steadily declined. In 1998, 151 million pounds were produced. This year the crop target is set for just over 85 million pounds.
Tobacco farmers in 1990 earned an average income of $79,062, according to Statistics Canada. That dropped to $57,876 in 2000.
"The bills are just getting paid," says Jason McElhone, a relatively young tobacco farmer at 32.
"It's bad when you have to take it out on your own family at home at night and then take it out on your own employees."
Aggressive federal and provincial government policies to dissuade smoking have indirectly yet increasingly encouraged tobacco companies to use cheaper foreign leaf in Canadian-made cigarettes, Bannister says.
Six years ago, six per cent of the shreds of tobacco in your typical du Maurier cigarette came from other countries such as Brazil. In 2003, that figure rose to 30 per cent.
"These companies are allowed to bring in foreign leaf which is substandard to Canadian leaf, and that's being smoked by people here," says Bannister, who has lobbied both levels of government to increase Canadian content in cigarettes sold here.
"If Canadians are going to smoke, they should be smoking only Canadian blends of tobacco."
He says tobacco grown abroad isn't as rigorously inspected as domestic tobacco, possibly exposing smokers to chemicals such as DDT, a toxic insecticide fully banned in Canada since 1989.
Currently, all Canadian tobacco farmers are required to document their use of fertilizers and the volume and type of pesticides they use.
"You can be sure that in countries like Brazil and India, there may be guidelines in place, but they're not being followed as strictly as they are here," Bannister says.
In March, Ontario set aside $50 million in a transition fund for tobacco farmers looking to get out of the business and pursue alternative crops such as beans and sweet potatoes.
But the farmers say much of the infrastructure designed for tobacco farming - namely the kilns, which cure, or essentially heat the tobacco, can't be used for any other crops.
Ontario Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky says there are farmers making strides in adapting to cultivating different and viable crops, pointing to some who have taken up sweet potato farming.
"There are really going to be two benefits," she said in an interview.
"There will be the production of sweet potatoes for consumption, and then those lower-grade potatoes will be used for the production of ethanol."
The province is pushing gas companies to ensure all gasoline contains five per cent of ethanol by 2007 to reduce greenhouse gases.
But Bannister says trying to get tobacco farmers to grow other crops will only saturate other markets.
"If, say, 400 acres of strawberries were planted here, we would ruin the strawberry industry for Canadians," he says.
"We can't be planting 10,000 more acres of tomatoes or peppers or sweet corns. Nobody makes money then."
To cope, one farmer tried his hand at a marijuana grow-operation but was quickly busted, Bannister says.
"It's come down to where if you got no way to pay the bills, you get tempted to do something illegally," Edwards says.
Bannister has discouraged his 20-year-old son Wes from taking up the family trade, given the grim outlook he has for Canada's tobacco farming business.
"The tobacco industry is the Titanic," he says, gazing out at row upon row of tobacco crops as he lights a smoke.
Here is the annual quota of tobacco crops grown in Ontario since 1998:
1998: 151 million pounds
1999: 143.3 million pounds
2000: 124 million pounds
2001: 117.1 million pounds
2002: 108.1 million pounds
2003: 94.1 million pounds
2004: 87.9 million pounds
2005: 85.3 million pounds
(Source: The Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board)
Last year for Canada's tobacco farmers?
CBC News Last Updated Sat, 17 Sep 2005 15:15:03 EDT
Canada's last remaining tobacco farmers are in trouble, and some say this could be their last year.
Canadian tobacco farmers have found themselves in an unusual dilemma over the past several years. They grow a product that is legal, but is blamed for the premature cancer-related deaths of 45,000 Canadians every year.
Every province except Alberta has passed some form of smoking ban in public places such as bars and restaurants. With more laws restricting smoking and promotion of smoking, there are fewer tobacco farmers.
While there were more than 4,500 tobacco farms in Canada in the 1960s, today there are only 680 -- grouped north of Lake Erie, near Delhi, Ont.
As farmers turned away from tobacco, tobacco crops declined. In 1998, 151 million pounds were produced in Canada. This year the crop target is set for just over 85 million pounds.
Tobacco farmers in 1990 earned an average income of $79,062. According to Statistics Canada that dropped to $57,876 in 2000.
"This could be our last year," said Joe Stachura, a tobacco farmer of 25 years in Delhi. "We have no idea what our future holds for us."
Fred Neukamm, chairman of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board said: "What we are trying very hard to convince government of is that, as they pursue these types of aggressive (anti-smoking) policies, there has to be a balance in addressing the needs of the farmers that those types of policies are really displacing."
In March, Ontario set aside $50 million in a transition fund for tobacco farmers looking to get out of the business and pursue alternative crops such as beans and sweet potatoes. But the farmers say much of the infrastructure designed for tobacco farming -- such as the kilns which cure the tobacco -- can't be used for any other crops.
Ontario Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky said some farmers are adapting to cultivating different crops, such as sweet potato
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