Derek Brewin believes if Canadian farm subsidies were eliminated, over time, farmers’ net incomes would eventually be about the same as they have been.

So why not scrap the subsidies?

Brewin, an agr icul tural economist at the University of Manitoba, chuckles when asked. The tough part, he says, would be the transition.

“They (farmers) would suffer a lot right away,” he said. “I’m not going to suggest they suffer.”

With crop prices and farm incomes up the federal government might be asking itself the same question about farmer subsidies, Brewin said.

“It was high prices in the mid-1990s that led to getting rid of the WGTA (Western Grain Transportation Act) so I’d be a little worried if I was counting on those subsidies in the next few years.” [email protected]

———

“They(farmers)would sufferalotright

away.I’mnotgoingto suggesttheysuffer.”

– DEREK BREWIN