When I say “ Government” , I do realise that subsidy money for whatever cause, comes from taxes from us and the taxes from industry profits also excise duty on fuel etc , etc, etc.
I like to make that distinction because, "why" would the taxpayer see fit to control the supplies of these commodities or make the cost of producing them creep up?
Oil, gas and coal are heavily subsidised as well. None of these markets are a free as they are made out to be.Worldwide I suppose agriculture could be classed as a commodity producer, especially as far as combinable crops are concerned,and traded by commodity traders, who may trade oil, iron ore etc on the same day. So I ask the unpopular question “ why should agriculture be subsidised/propped up by worldwide government subsidies to agriculture in whatever form they take”?
I appreciate that milk and other perishable agricultural production can’t be classed as a commodity, so will be marketed differently, but still governed by population “demand”.
If some countries do subsidise oil, gas, iron ore and coal production , I will have to eat humble pie
Are governments broke???
www.gtreview.com
Surely most countries give "marketing assistance" to different sectors, that is how the world operates, to describe this as a subsidy is pushing the definition too far, particularly in the context of this thread.
The scenario you describe of agricultural commodities being traded by commodity traders is the situation you have in the UK, which is why I have often said it is such a shambles, there is no coordinated marketing and very little if any farmer ownership of the infrastructure, it does not work like that everywhere, many countries around the world both inside and outside the EU operate farmer owned cooperatives, whereby farmers have some control over their goods further up the supply chain, Friesland Campina, Arla, Fonterra, Tatua, Dairy Farmers of America et.al.Worldwide I suppose agriculture could be classed as a commodity producer, especially as far as combinable crops are concerned,and traded by commodity traders, who may trade oil, iron ore etc on the same day. So I ask the unpopular question “ why should agriculture be subsidised/propped up by worldwide government subsidies to agriculture in whatever form they take”?
I appreciate that milk and other perishable agricultural production can’t be classed as a commodity, so will be marketed differently, but still governed by population “demand”.
If some countries do subsidise oil, gas, iron ore and coal production , I will have to eat humble pie
That depends on the level of assistance.
As @kiwi pom has pointed out we already have a farm assurance scheme, this is required to sell into export markets, most countries adopt the EU scheme although some countries have different demands as well, China has stricter criteria than the EU. Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that only the UK has rules and regulations to adhere too or that you are the only ones sticking to the rules, it just isn't so, as a point of interest I can think of only a few dairy farms in the UK that would meet the rules to supply Fonterra.
I just sell grass to grass farmers, a tough sell at times and very easy at others.
Many Thanks for the above,
I have quickly read through it and it is very interesting, eye opening. Nothing in life is quite what one thinks
From the report it does seem that those of you who farm in Australia and New Zealand have a rough deal compared to the rest of the world farmers,although you can’t do anything about it what do you think of that situation??
And a lot more pleasant to work in.
