ANADIAN agriculture _ is indergoing great change. jy {teaching technological fignments are demanding A. Singly heavy invest- ) f capital. tion tur brings about a he In which the larger ‘ (and now often the 4 ee or processing cor- Operating in agricul- ‘4, “Mloys an enormous ad- "8 Over small farmers. 4 ‘ 1961 census reveals that gaits percent of all farms ' $25,000 and more an- Tay and only 10.4 percent ‘Hep a had annual sales 1... 10,000. Of all farmers, 7 *ent sold an annual Big changes gross of less than $5,000. When expenses are deducted from a gross income of less than $5,000, the income that re- mains dooms the farm family to poverty, which can only be offset by extra income gained from working off the farm. This is why the number of farms in Canada dropped from 677,000 in 1941 to 480,903 in 1961. At the same time, all far- mers (apart, of course, from corporations engaged in agri- culture) suffer from the domi- nation of the big monopolies. This is true both in purchases of farm machinery and other equip- ment, as well as in sale of farm products to the processing mo- hurt small farmer nopolies. One set of monopolies constantly works to drive up costs, another to drive down prices. Recently, The Activist, the information bulletin of the Saskatchewan Committee of the Communist Party, pub- lished as a draft a Communist policy for agriculture. The com- mittee invited discussion from its readers. The committee also said: “While the first need is to develop overall anti-monopoly demands, as in this bulletin, some thought needs to be giv- en by the Left about the spe- cial problem of those farmers who still will have to give up farming despite all efforts to bring in new. policies. “Many hold the opinion that under the provisions of the Agricultural and Rural Develop- ments Act (ARDA) there is room to develop the many di- versified programs required to help the farmers and municipa- lities at the municipal level. “Our contention is, however, that a program essentially in the interests of the farmer will not come into existence unless the entire Left begins a strug- gle for it.” The Canadian Tribune re- prints this policy statement on this page. Our readers are in- vited to comment on the poli- cy, and to send us their cri- ticisms and suggestions. An agricultural policy for Canada _about farming A new technique is used by monopolies to intensify the exploitation of agricul- ture. “Vertical integration” and “contract farming” are the terms used to describe the adoption of industrial methods in farm production. These methods usually bring the entire agricultural pro- cess under the complete con- trol of monopolies. Ww Corporate chain stores are intesrating wholesaling and retailing. In 1961 they did 45 percent’ of the retail food business — and another group of chains called the “voluntary” chains do an- other 25 percent of it. ¥ The labor force engaged in all industries has increased by almost 40 percent since the late 1920’s: but in agri- culture it has declined by al- 4. CONTROL OF CREDIT: The underwriting of farm credit on a wider scale. Low-interest, long-term loans to young farmers. Control of excessive credit charges. 5. STRENGTHEN THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT: En- The Communist Party calls for the expansion of agricul- nage uction, for the freeing of agriculture from monopoly thie for the stepped-up development of our country €a stable and expanding market. most 30 percent. W The prairie provinces ac- The Nad &nd if [Ente "dig hal t “nomic future. ito (ind “minal fees. ‘Communist Party calls for trade with all countries. {'s farmers are among the foremost producers in the ‘“Gnada urgently needs an agricultural policy which : es the domination of the agricultural scene by the big At Shadian monopolies, and which will gear production Stowing needs of the world. It proposes: TRADE WITH ALL COUNTRIES: Actively trade with all J ee On the basis of equality and mutual benefit. The f tinge should lead trade delegations abroad and make /_‘@ large sums to underwrite such sales. a NATIONALIZE THE MONOPOLIES: The great U.S.- N monopolies should be nationalized so that their Mle empires can be used in the interests of Canada to Prosperity to its people. Canada needs a national, Y-owned, integrated national transportation policy. “ization will return to Canadians the right to decide ‘ id PUBLICLY-OWNED FARM MACHINERY SYNDICATES: t Governments, in cooperation with all levels of govern- _Sssist in establishing publicly-owned farm machin- . Cates which would make available farm machinery courage the cooperative development of our natural re- sources. Tax relief for cooperatives. Encourage the formation of land co-ops among the farmers. Help to develop oil re- sources for co-op refineries and chemical resources for co-op fertilizer plants. 6. DWERSIFICATION: The Canadian government should assist farmers in financing their present needs in machinery, land, and in switching production. This could best be done by extending the Agricultural and Rural Developments Act (ARDA). Under this act, processing industries and a program of rural development and renewal, plus the employment of farmers forced to give up farming, could be undertaken. 7. PARITY: Support the farmers’ demands for parity. Raise floor prices. 8. CROP INSURANCE: Make the present crop insurance plan workable. 9. FARM LABOR: Bring farm labor under the Workmen’s Compensation Act and Unemployment Insurance Act. 10. DEVELOP AND EXPAND port shipping and storage facilities for Canadian agricultural products. it a With respect to Point 44, CUld be noted that the direction of assisting hy i machinery syndi- ; Bence legislation ‘re- €d in the House of ' n 80vernment has limped. Commons. The new law as it now stands, however, leaves much to be desired. The following quote from a speech by NDP Leader T. C. Douglas in the House of Com- mons on Oct. 8 focuses on some of its main weaknesses: “I just do not see how a far- mer with a gross income of less than $2,500 a year — the sur- vey by the Ontario Federation of Labor shows that 46 percent of all farmers in Canada are now in that category — can afford to pay six percent in- & terest, a one percent service charge, sign a promissory note to cover the entire borrowing of the syndicate and in addi- tion to carry fire insurance, public liability insurance and life insurance as a member of the syndicate.” wets Bigger and bigger farms require a larger capital outlay for machinery and equipment. count for 43.7 percent of all farms. Quebec and Ontario between them account for 45 percent. f He The 10.4 percent of all farms selling over $10,000 gross annually own and work 25 percent of Canada’s farm land, and in 1960 dis- posed of almost 50 percent of the nation’s total farm products. wv The average capital invest- ed per farm in 1935 was a little better than $6,000. By 1961 it was $27,389. * In 1901 farm machinery was only six percent of the total farm capital in Canada. In 1951 it was 20 percent. In the decade 1951-61 it jump-. ed by 40 percent to a total cavital investment of $2.6 billion. 3 Ww Machinery costs are now 30 percent of the farmer’s operating costs on a national average. The price for new farm machinery is a mono- poly price, even if the pur- chase is made from a co- operative. a The Council of Canadian Beef Producers. claim that in the 15 years since 1949 the price of cattle in Canada has increased by about e'ght percent while the cost of producing them has risen by nearly 47 percent. Ww U.S. monopolists use the outlets they own in Canada to dump surpluses from that country. The big chain stores and wholesale houses, most- ly U.S.-owned, get U.S. farm . products. These low-priced 4 U.S. imports are used to % beat down Canadian prices. November 20, 1964—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5