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New Solitudes

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Published: January 11, 2010

If you believe agriculture will thrive best with unregulated markets, and that it must be driven by smart, profit-minded individuals, maybe you should stop reading now. CFA president Laurent Pellerin and you may not get along.

Agriculture needs much more than articulate farmers, says Laurent Pellerin, long-time president of Quebec’s powerful UPA farmers’ union.

It must have vocal organizations too. Farmers need strong producer associations, Pellerin says, and those associations must be aggressive enough and strong enough to negotiate head to head with governments and agri-food giants.

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English Canada’s tradition of “soft lobbies” asking for minimal government intervention doesn’t serve farmers well, says Pellerin.

Today, Pellerin is in one of the most powerful seats in the country for trying to get his way. He was elected president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) last February, becoming the first Québécois to lead the 75-year-old organization and its 200,000 members.

After nearly a year in the job, Pellerin sat down with Country Guide for an exclusive interview into his views on farm leadership.

Pellerin starts by recalling a conference with livestock producers in Alberta last fall, when a farmer told him the CFA shouldn’t worry too much about the current crisis in beef production. “The low-performing farmers will go out of production,” Pellerin was told. “We’ll simply buy them out.”

“I partly agree with people who think that way,” Pellerin says. “But the problem with that logic is that agriculture is now being taken away from people and put in the hands of huge companies. I think this is a drawback. I still believe in farming being done by farmers who take their own decisions on their own farms.”

The market economy has always played against farmers’ interests, says Pellerin, who farms 1,500 acres and breeds 4,800 hogs annually with wife Johanne and sons Guillaume and Alexandre near Nicolet, Quebec.

Farm revenues have been on a downward slope for the past 20 years, Pellerin says. Despite major productivity gains, farmers keep getting less and less for their products.

Sure, there have been a few good years for grains recently, he agrees, but prices had been ridiculous for the 25 previous years before that.

Pulling together in production-focused farmer groups is the first step towards better revenues for farmers, Pellerin believes. “The economic system works well when you have hundreds of buyers and hundreds of sellers. When you have only two or three buyers and thousands of sellers, the system doesn’t work.”

This is best illustrated in pork and beef production, where farmers are too divided to bargain effectively with processors. Supply management producers are doing much better, because farmers negotiate as a whole, Pellerin points out. Needless to say, Canadian milk, egg and poultry producers enjoy stable revenues that are currently the envy of many, not only in Canada.

Supply management as we know it isn’t likely to be copied in other commodities, here or in other countries, Pellerin reckons. But its principles are transferable. In recent years, Quebec maple syrup and rabbit producers have agreed to joint marketing plans. The resulting stability has allowed these commodities to grow, ensuring the farmer gets a fair price of what consumers pay.

Pellerin says he didn’t accept the CFA’s presidency in order to promote Quebec’s interests. He had been first vice-president of the CFA for nearly a decade when retiring president Bob Friesen asked him to take over part way through the year. Then in February, Pellerin won the delegates’ vote against Ontario’s Ron Bonnett.

“I’ve been touring the country and people seem quite comforable to have me as the president of the CFA,” Pellerin told

Country Guide.

Pellerin agrees though that most of his message is based on his experience with the UPA. “All our gains at the UPA were

“ The CFA Must Become Bigger. But I Don’t Know Whether It’s Going To Happen.”

— Laurent Pellerin

about producers taking control. We stopped accepting government paternalism.”

Farmers have to “pay the price” for strong farmer organizations, Pellerin says. That means sitting together, listening to peers and accepting compromises in order to reach consensus. “You may not always succeed in rallying others to your point of view, but that’s the price to pay to be in an association that speaks with one strong voice.”

The UPA has 3,000 directors province-wide and when they meet for an annual congress, they are able to take a lot of decisions, Pellerin says. The UPA does have critics who are opposed to its legal monopoly as a farm union, yet it remains a powerful grass-roots organization. Its 155 local unions, 16 regional federations and 21 specialized unions represent the province’s 43,000 farmers.

At the national level, the CFA could do a lot more if it had more resources. “It’s a shame to have 200,000 farmers across Canada and not be able to have a stronger CFA,” Pellerin says.

With its meagre $1-million budget, Pellerin says, the CFA is a dwarf when compared to the UPA and its 1,000 employees. If every farmer in Canada would pay $25 to the CFA, he adds, its budget would grow to $5 million.

“I’m still looking at what we could do with the CFA, in order to be able to achieve great things like the UPA,” Pellerin says. “The CFA must become bigger. But I don’t know whether it’s going to happen under my presidency.”

With more money, CFA could be more active at bringing together farmers, processors, distributors and governments to establish strong Canadian agri-food business strategies. Pellerin believes better collaboration between key players could help reverse trends like increasing beef and pork imports. “If we want this production in Canada, will we have it with the whole value added of processing given to the U.S.?”

Part of the solution to crises in beef, pork and other food commodities lies in proper labelling and in promoting Canadian products in our supermarkets, Pellerin says. “We can work on farm profitability, invest in research, group our sales to eliminate middlemen and promote our Canadian production.” All this can yield results, but it takes money.

Farmer organizations also need to convince consumers and the government that if they want to have food production in their own country, farmers must earn good incomes, Pellerin says.

“Our farm inputs are Canadian, our labour costs are Canadian, our environmental and food safety regulations are Canadian,” Pellerin says. “If we can’t be paid a Canadian salary with farming, who will want to farm in Canada?” CG

“ The CFA Must Become Bigger. But I Don’t Know Whether It’s Going To Happen.”

— Laurent Pellerin

about producers taking control. We stopped accepting government paternalism.”

Farmers have to “pay the price” for strong farmer organizations, Pellerin says. That means sitting together, listening to peers and accepting compromises in order to reach consensus. “You may not always succeed in rallying others to your point of view, but that’s the price to pay to be in an association that speaks with one strong voice.”

The UPA has 3,000 directors province-wide and when they meet for an annual congress, they are able to take a lot of decisions, Pellerin says. The UPA does have critics who are opposed to its legal monopoly as a farm union, yet it remains a powerful grass-roots organization. Its 155 local unions, 16 regional federations and 21 specialized unions represent the province’s 43,000 farmers.

At the national level, the CFA could do a lot more if it had more resources. “It’s a shame to have 200,000 farmers across Canada and not be able to have a stronger CFA,” Pellerin says.

With its meagre $1-million budget, Pellerin says, the CFA is a dwarf when compared to the UPA and its 1,000 employees. If every farmer in Canada would pay $25 to the CFA, he adds, its budget would grow to $5 million.

“I’m still looking at what we could do with the CFA, in order to be able to achieve great things like the UPA,” Pellerin says. “The CFA must become bigger. But I don’t know whether it’s going to happen under my presidency.”

With more money, CFA could be more active at bringing together farmers, processors, distributors and governments to establish strong Canadian agri-food business strategies. Pellerin believes better collaboration between key players could help reverse trends like increasing beef and pork imports. “If we want this production in Canada, will we have it with the whole value added of processing given to the U.S.?”

Part of the solution to crises in beef, pork and other food commodities lies in proper labelling and in promoting Canadian products in our supermarkets, Pellerin says. “We can work on farm profitability, invest in research, group our sales to eliminate middlemen and promote our Canadian production.” All this can yield results, but it takes money.

Farmer organizations also need to convince consumers and the government that if they want to have food production in their own country, farmers must earn good incomes, Pellerin says.

“Our farm inputs are Canadian, our labour costs are Canadian, our environmental and food safety regulations are Canadian,” Pellerin says. “If we can’t be paid a Canadian salary with farming, who will want to farm in Canada?” CG

About The Author

André Dumont

Co-operator Editor

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