Better Farming - November 2016

57 / 72

Better Farming November 2016 FarmNews First > 57
THEHILL
try found themselves unable to
service debts and in threat of losing
their farms. Many did.
Lenders became some of the
biggest farm property owners in the
country. The Farm Credit Corpora-
tion (as it was then known) needed a
massive government bailout to cover
losses.
“One of the reasons I find agricul-
ture debt such a compelling story is
(because of) some conversations I
have had with my father (a farmer
himself), particularly when talking
about the debt crisis of the early
1980s,” Pittman said in an interview.
“Prime interest rates spiked in the
early 1980s, which led to defaults on
farming loans and an exodus of some
farmers from the business. The debt
levels we are looking at in farming
today are much higher than they were
in the late 1970s, before the debt
crisis. This is an important lesson to
remember.”
At the very least it is a lesson
farmers, their leaders and politicians
should be reflecting on and discuss-
ing. BF
Barry Wilson is a member of the
Parliamentary Press Gallery and
specializes in agriculture.
YinYang/E+/Getty Images photo
“The debt levels we are
looking at in farming today
are much higher than they
were in the late 1970s,”
says Sarah Pittman, a
CanadaWest Foundation
intern.