KEMPTVILLE — While the provincial government dithers
on safety net programs, some of the back concessions have turned into
fields of desperation. Some farmers have had their phones cut off. Others
can’t afford heating oil, a debt counsellor told Farmers Forum.
These are worst cases across Ontario, while many other
farms face bankruptcy.
"I’ve never seen anything like this since the
80s," a farm debt mediation counsellor said. He wouldn’t say how
many farms are this badly off. Hard hit are those who didn’t take out
insurance and whose NISA (Safety net savings) has been depleted.
Most at risk are those who depend on crop prices and
have bought land at inflated prices. Small dairy farms with too much debt
are in trouble along with farms combining high debt, cash crops and
livestock in their operations.
The twin culprits in Eastern Ontario are inflated land
values, which are hovering at $3,000 per acre in some areas, and two
disastrous crop years. Farmers who bought land on credit weren’t able to
get the money back from profits from their crops.
The Farm Debt Mediation Service provides help for
people pushed to the wall by their creditors. Increasingly, it is dealing
with people on the brink of ruin. A mediator works with a strapped farmer.
In some cases, he’ll help to restructure the farm debt, and hold
creditors at bay until a recovery plan has been developed.
The problem is reminiscent of the early 1980s when high
interest rates combined with inflated land prices. Land from the 70s to
the early 80s jumped from $250 per acre to $1,000. The price of corn then
was higher than now.
At that time, the provincial government created a rebate program, and
in many cases tragedy was averted.
