Dairy and poultry farmers in 91原创 are watching NAFTA negotiations, worried that pressure to close a deal with the United States could end or change the supply management system they have built their farms around.
鈥淲e won鈥檛 be able to compete at 250 cows,鈥� said David Davis, a fourth-generation farmer in 91原创鈥檚 Milner area. He estimates to compete with the larger American farms in a unified market, he鈥檇 need at least 600 on his family farm. 鈥淐an you imagine 600 cows on the Yorkson slope?鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very scary time,鈥� said his wife, Nicole Davis.
The Davis family has been farming the same land since 1885, land that was originally part of the Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company farm, attached to the trading post of Fort 91原创. It鈥檚 one of the oldest pieces of farmland still being used for agriculture in British Columbia, but the Davis鈥檚 say they鈥檒l have to give it up and move to keep operating if a NAFTA deal ends supply management.
Supply management was brought in in the 1960s to end wild swings in price and availability of dairy, eggs, and poultry, said David, who farms with Nicole, their five children, and five full-time employees.
Every spring before the supply management system, there was a shortage and price spiked in the winter months.
鈥淚n the spring, you couldn鈥檛 give it away,鈥� said Davis, who also serves as a 91原创 Township councillor.
Supply management created quotas for poultry, eggs, and dairy that evened out the price swings and has allowed small and mid-sized family farms to keep operating.
While supply management is sometimes criticized and blamed for Canada鈥檚 higher dairy and poultry prices, farmers like the Davis family say that American prices are kept artificially low by subsidies paid directly to U.S. farmers, whereas Canadian farms get no subsidies. Opponents of Canadian supply management have argued that the system itself amounts to a subsidy.
Within Canada, one of the most fervent opponents of supply management is former Conservative MP Maxime Bernier, who recently split with the party over that and other issues.
While there have long been arguments, both within Canada and between Canada and its trading partners about supply management, the issue achieved a new prominence thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump has been a frequent and vocal critic of dairy supply management, calling it 鈥渧ery unfair鈥� and 鈥渁nother very typical one-sided deal against the United States鈥︹��
Trump鈥檚 comments on Canada鈥檚 dairy industry have not endeared him to the Davis family.
鈥淚f you give in to that, what will he want next?鈥� said Nicole, who characterized the president as a bully.
Also waiting to hear how the NAFTA deal is finalized are the poultry and egg producers of the Fraser Valley.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all kind of on pins and needles,鈥� said Bill Vanderspek, executive director of the British Columbia Chicken Marketing Board.
The industry employs many people directly and indirectly in B.C., Vanderspek said.
鈥淲e produce two million broiler chickens a week in British Columbia,鈥� he said. Of those, 85 per cent are grown in the Fraser Valley.
Depending on those farmers are the feed mills, egg hatcheries, and local processing plants.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tremendous amount of economic activity here in the Fraser Valley,鈥� Vanderspek said. 鈥淭hose towns would look a lot different without the poultry and dairy industries.鈥�
While the bulk of Trump鈥檚 criticism has fallen on dairy, poultry is also supply managed. But Vanderspek said it isn鈥檛 as closed a shop as some may imagine.
Under NAFTA, 7.5 per cent of the previous year鈥檚 domestic Canadian production is allowed to enter the country duty free. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the EU also allows in some poultry duty free.
Even if supply management ended, Vanderspek doesn鈥檛 believe there would be significant savings for Canadian consumers.
鈥淲hen you buy your chicken in the store, you鈥檙e paying what it cost to produce it,鈥� he said.
With a possible Friday deadline looming, B.C. dairy and poultry producers were keeping an eye on the news and waiting to see if Canada makes any kind of a deal on supply management or access of American products to the Canadian market.
Vanderspek was hopeful that the federal government will live up to the assurances it has made over the past year that it won鈥檛 dismantle supply management.
