Trans-Pacific Partnership cause for relief, says Quebec dairy farmer
After months of nail biting, one Stanstead dairy farmer says TPP dairy regulations manageable
Dairy farmers across rural Quebec were bracing for the details of how the Trans-Pacific Partnership will affect the Canadian dairy industry.
On Monday, the Canadian government announced a tentative agreement that would see 3.25 per cent of the dairy market open up to other countries.
- Trans-Pacific Partnership: What it could mean for Quebec and you
- Trans-Pacific Partnership offers dairy sector good news, bad news and a question mark
- TPP: The disaster that didn't happen for dairy and auto sectors
Benoît Simard, 26, is a third-generation dairy farmer in Stanstead, Que. He runs his mid-size family dairy farm with his father and brother.
CBC asked him about what he thinks the deal will mean to him and his operation:
After looking at what we know now about how the dairy industry will be impacted by the TPP, what was your initial reaction?
I'm pretty sad to know there'll be a loss of market for Canadian producers, but we expected a much worse scenario. At the beginning of the TPP negotiations, they said it could be the end of supply management. We didn't really believe it, but it was always something that was in the air. And we heard about 10 per cent loss, 20 per cent loss. It's come a long way since then.
How will these changes affect your family farm?
Oh, it will. It'll be a 3.25 per cent loss for everyone. Normal farms make around five or 10 per cent profit, so when you're cutting 3.25 per cent, you're pretty much cutting in on the profit of the farm. It will be a loss of about $50,000 for our business per year.
What about the announcement of $4.3 billion in subsidies for dairy farmers?
We're not sure how that will work. It depends on what happens with the supply management quota system. It seems like some good news, but let's see.
Have you talked to anyone else in the farming community since the news broke? What do they think?
There's a lot of things going on on Facebook. I heard some people are pretty mad about this news. I think I'm kind of really optimistic, if I compare to some of those comments. I know it's always the worst comments we see on Facebook — the worst and the best ones. But some of them are pretty mad about this news.