Speech (committee meeting)

{
    "time": "2006-12-05 10:35:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Mr. Jacques Laforge",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"368036\" data-originallang=\"en\"> As far as the number of reductions per farm, down from 42,000 to 15,000, there are a number of elements. The rationalization of the dairy farm has not been any different from the general farm population. I think production per cow increased, based on a mature market, and has created people exiting the industry more, probably, than we would like.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"368037\" data-originallang=\"en\">As an example, on my farm in 1980, I was milking about 20 or 25 cows. Today, I'm milking 85 cows. If I had the same production base, the quota base today as in 1980, I would have to milk 240 cows. The production per cow has tremendously increased in a mature market, so it explains some of that.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"368038\" data-originallang=\"en\">The thing that we must not confuse, though, is that when we talk about 15,000 farm units, that is a lot more than 15,000 dairy farmers. Most units today are in the vicinity of 65 or 75 cows, and you have either two brothers and wives on it, or a father and mother and wife and husband, a boy or a daughter and a partner on it. As I say, it's a combination of at least two households. In some cases, it may be up to four households. These are all dairy farmers, but we're talking about 15,000 units. I wanted to clarify that.</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"368036\" data-originallang=\"en\">Plusieurs facteurs expliquent la r\u00e9duction du nombre d\u2019exploitations agricoles, qui est pass\u00e9 de 42 000 \u00e0 15 000. Les fermes laiti\u00e8res ont rationnalis\u00e9 leurs activit\u00e9s comme l\u2019on fait les autres exploitations agricoles. Je crois qu\u2019il y a eu une augmentation de la productivit\u00e9 des vaches, en raison de la maturation du march\u00e9, ce qui a incit\u00e9 un plus grand nombre d\u2019agriculteurs que nous l\u2019aurions probablement souhait\u00e9 \u00e0 quitter l\u2019industrie.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"368037\" data-originallang=\"en\">Par exemple, en 1980, je trayais environ 20 ou 25 vaches sur ma ferme. Aujourd\u2019hui, j\u2019en trais 85. Si je disposais de la m\u00eame base de production qu\u2019avant, si la base de contingentement \u00e9tait la m\u00eame qu\u2019en 1980, il faudrait que je traie 240 vaches. La productivit\u00e9 des vaches s\u2019est accrue consid\u00e9rablement sur un march\u00e9 mature, ce qui explique la situation en partie.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"368038\" data-originallang=\"en\">Ce qu\u2019il ne faut pas oublier, cependant, c\u2019est que nous parlons d\u2019environ 15 000 unit\u00e9s de production agricole, ce qui repr\u00e9sente beaucoup plus que 15 000 producteurs laitiers. De nos jours, la plupart des unit\u00e9s de production agricole comptent entre 65 et 75 vaches et sont compos\u00e9es de deux fr\u00e8res et de leurs \u00e9pouses, ou d\u2019un p\u00e8re, d\u2019une m\u00e8re, de leur enfant et de son conjoint, d\u2019un fils ou d\u2019une fille et de leur partenaire. Elles sont g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement compos\u00e9es d\u2019au moins deux m\u00e9nages, et dans certains cas, elles peuvent en compter jusqu\u2019\u00e0 quatre. Toutes ces personnes sont des producteurs laitiers, mais ils composent environ 15 000 unit\u00e9s de production agricole. Je tenais \u00e0 le pr\u00e9ciser.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/committees/international-trade/39-1/39/jacques-laforge-14/",
    "politician_url": null,
    "politician_membership_url": null,
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "1814796",
    "document_url": "/committees/international-trade/39-1/39/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fcommittees%2Finternational-trade%2F39-1%2F39%2F"
    }
}