No help for dealing with deadstock and a looming provincial debt

Friday, March 27, 2009

© AgMedia Inc.

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

There was no relief announced for deadstock collectors who have hiked prices and reduced service to cope after the expiry of a provincial subsidy, low prices for lard and zero returns for hides.

Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario president Henry Stevens wasn’t surprised because the provincial government made it clear there would be no more money for collection. 

The collectors are in big trouble, he says. “The ramifications of that are quite huge if we don’t figure something out.”

National Farmers Union’s coordinator Wayne Robertson fears without the subsidy, “somebody somewhere is going to make a really bad decision because they just don’t have the money to do something around deadstock and we’re all going to pay the price for it.” The new regulations that go into effect today aren’t enough, he says.

The rules “give farmers and deadstock receivers a wider range of choices for disposing of deadstock both on and off the farm, such as anaerobic digestion and central composting,” states a March 25 news release (http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/infores/releases/2009/032509.htm) from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 

Joe Kosalle, project manager for Atwood Pet Foods Ltd., hopes the regulations will be tough enough to make farmers send their deadstock for rendering rather than undertake composting.

Atwood Pet Foods Ltd. hasn't increased its charge for collecting deadstock because it needs volume to make the gasification plant run, he says. The new plant, which ensures "total destruction" of rendered material at 1,400-1,500 C, will be test fired this weekend but production won't start for two months or more.

The gasification plant, in turn will provide the heat to run the rendering plant. 

Vice-president Don McCabe says the Ontario Federation of Agriculture is consulting with livestock groups to see if the regulations are going to work. “On-farm disposal methodology is only valid if you can afford to put in the appropriate measures because we have to make sure that we are not creating a bigger issue on-farm.”

In the meantime, Stevens says farmers are uncomfortable with the debt that’s being proposed. Duncan has forecasted a $14.1 billion deficit for 2009-2010.

“It’s like mortgaging the future for our kids,” he says. “If we get into deep deficit spending here it’s going to take a lot of years to get out of it.” BF