Dear Editor
Glen Tait (Disconnect from reality, Regional Optimist, Jan. 9) once again shows how out of touch he is with the majority of Western Canadian farmers.
Our government was elected on a platform to give Western Canadian grain farmers the marketing freedom they wanted and deserved, and we were proud to deliver.
Our government continues to provide farmers with the necessary tools to capture new economic opportunities. While Mr. Tait and a small handful of producers choose to remain stuck in the past, the overwhelming majority of farmers have embraced the opportunities that marketing freedom is providing.
That is why we are seeing record farm incomes and record net operating income. It is also why farmers planted more than two million more acres of wheat in 2013 than in 2012.
Additionally, in 2013 farmers produced 25 per cent more tonnes of grain over 2012.
These numbers show the optimism that has returned to the grains sector since the removal of the old single-desk two years ago.
Farmers were also buoyed by the announcement that our government had reached an agreement in principle on free trade with the European Union. All told, industry estimates that this deal will add $1.5 billion annually to Canadian agriculture. This will increase our producers' bottom lines and boost our overall economy.
Our government will continue to work with all forward thinking producers to increase opportunities in Canadian agriculture.
Gerry Ritz
Agriculture Minister
MP for Battlefords-Lloydminster
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