Over the years there have been many stories of European farmers pulling up roots and moving to Canada.
There have generally been two motivating factors in the decision to make what is a huge change.
The first has been simple economics. There are often limited opportunities for expansion of farms in Europe in terms of available acres to buy. The acres which do come on the market are also high cost because of the limited supply. As a result, a farmer can often sell there and buy more acres here.
The second reason I have often heard from recent farming immigrants is a wish to get away from the increasing red tape of European farming. The rules and regulations imposed by government are seen not just for being restrictive in terms of farmer choices, but adding additional costs to production without a corresponding bump in returns.
There may still be a difference in terms of prices for land between Canada and Europe, but the red tape of government is spreading faster than clubroot in canola crops.
In Alberta producers are expecting new rules this summer which will require them to have a health and safety plan.
The rules, which come into effect June 1 and apply to farms with paid employees, are part of the government’s plans to update the Occupational Health and Safety code.
Now having farmers follow regulations for employees that other industries have already been dealing with may be seen as logical, and certainly fair in terms of employee safety, but they are adding red tape for farmers to deal with.
And on the federal side, as of December 1, veterinary prescriptions will be required for antibiotics for Canadian livestock.
The new federal legislation covers most forms of livestock, so whether a bee producer, or hog producer, they will be dealing with the changes.
The new policy covers injectable products, boluses, calf scour treatments, and similar products. Drugs such as tetracycline and penicillin will no longer be available over the counter.
What these changes will mean is significant cost increases. Veterinarians will see these changes as a way to add to their bottom line, and no one can fault them for wanting to be paid for their time.
Still, this is a rule which is a massive change in how livestock producers go about doing their business.
Growing up on a livestock farm, using penicillin to treat a sick animal was something which was done regularly, based on years of experience. The thought of having to pay the vet for a prescription will be hard to understand for producers.
And so the red tape is definitely rolling off the government reel toward farming.
