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Monthly business barometer shows agriculture is pessimistic
July 9, 2009
As federal, provincial and territorial ag ministers are meeting, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has released a monthly 'barometer' that shows producers are pessimistic, and the Federation is challenging ministers to do something about that.
July 10, 2009 By Canadian Federation of Independent Business
July 09, 2009
Today, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released its first Monthly Agriculture Business Barometer for June 2009.
The industries most pessimistic are agriculture with an index level of 47.9 (likely due to ongoing challenges in the livestock sector and drought conditions in parts of the West), natural resources at 46.0 and the transport sectors at 51.2. When compared to the national business confidence findings of 58.5 (almost two points below the May level), it is clear the agricultural sector continues to struggle. (Visit www.cfib.ca/agri/ for further details).
"CFIB’s Business Barometer reflects the number of challenges the Canadian agricultural sector is dealing with, whether it be in the livestock sector or producers facing severe drought," said Marilyn Braun-Pollon, CFIB’s vice-president for Agri-business. "It is our hope this week’s meetings of federal, provincial and territorial ministers of Agriculture will acknowledge these significant challenges and implement improvements to programs such as AgriStability, and announce plans to deal with the severe drought experienced by many producers."
"Our agri-business members want to earn a profit from the marketplace, not the mailbox. These are really programs of last resort, but when producers do need them they must be transparent, accessible, predictable and timely. We hope the governments will deliver," Braun-Pollon concluded.
CFIB’s index is a weighted average of response scores: 100 for stronger performances, 50 for consistent performances, and 0 for weaker performances. Further details can be found at: www.cfib.ca/research/barometer/
www.cfib.ca/research/barometer/
