AGRI 215 Lecture : Farm Support Systems
Document Summary
Farm support can include things like subsidies, quota, set-a-side policies, legislation for marketing, tariffs, import control (not always as efficient as they want to be and some times they are not efficient at all) Subsidies can be expensive to governments so generally are avoided, while quota costs the canadian government next to nothing to keep this system in place. Set-a-side: set a side part of the land to keep out of production, cutting supply and increasing prices. Government will pay the farmer x dollars/hectare to not produce product. All of these support systems depend on different circumstances: Like whether the country is an importer or exporter. Used mostly to keep food prices relatively low to feed urban population. In developing world this can be reversed and helps farmers get income for rural communities. Quota systems are can differ, in canada quota was originally allocated based on current needs, than a monetary value was attached.