Every farmer knows of someone who has just cashed in the cows or won’t be planting crops this year. For many farmers, credit is running out and there are now rumours of a few western Ontario farmers hiding their tractors from the bank. A farmer would dismiss that anecdote if he didn’t think the situation was that bad.

For the fifth year in a row, Ontario corn producers will plant fewer acres. The current corn price is a dismal $100 a tonne. Now, factor in the U.S. farm bill. A New York farmer could get a government cheque that amounts to CDN $120 for every acre of corn grown. For each of the 21,000 corn growers in Ontario that cheque from support programs would amount to only about $36 an acre. How do you handle that imbalance? The solution, still waiting for political will, is what the commodity groups have been pushing since last summer in a new risk management program to ensure coverage of cost of production.

Under the Liberal regime, which had no Canadian food policy, there was no response to the farm crisis. We got studies, says grassroots leader and Prescott-Russell dairy farmer Jean-Marie Menard. We got the Speller study and the Easter study and we got "tea cup" discussions, he says.

Will farmers now get help under a minority Conservative government? Certainly, the Conservatives owe much of their victory to the rural vote. Some analysts argue it will be important for the Conservatives to show their gratitude to the rural areas and deal quickly with commitments to fix and enrich farm safety nets.

Another positive indicator is that Harper doesn’t have ties to industry giants that could obscure his priorities. He’s more like you and me and Joe Canadian than Paul Martin ever pretended to be. As The Calgary Herald’s Nigel Hannaford noted, Harper has proven you don’t have to be a multimillionaire lawyer from Quebec to be prime minister of Canada. He lives in a Calgary neighbourhood that many people can afford and knows what it’s like to pay a mortgage. He walks his children to school and actually understands the stress of personal debt. His in-laws operate a struggling farm.

Ontario Corn Producers Association general manager Brian Doidge also sees signs of hope. The Conservatives admit there is need for income stabilization, says Doidge, although he cautions that the Tories also flirted with the idea that increasing exports is the way to go.

So far, the only other irking thing about Harper is that he keeps cats in the house. Nevertheless, commodity groups are absolutely right in not waiting for answers. They are planning February rallies and insisting on a government supported plan. They need the support of every farmer. Your future may depend on it.

— P. Meagher