This is certainly one of the places to be because the Huffington Post is now often quoted as a source in the mainstream media. Who woulda thought that something that began as a fancy blog would develop into what we have today?
For those readers who do not know the Huffington Post, here is a Wikipedia account:
The Huffington Post (sometimes abbreviated Huff Post or HuffPo) is an online news aggregator and blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, Andrew Breitbart,[2][3] and Jonah Peretti, featuring columnists.[4] The site offers news, blogs, and original content and covers politics, business, entertainment, environment, technology, popular media, lifestyle, culture, comedy, healthy living, women's interests, and local news.
In July 2012, The Huffington Post was ranked #1 on the 15 Most Popular Political Sites list by eBizMBA Rank, which bases its list on each site's Alexa Global Traffic Rank and U.S. Traffic Rank from both Compete and Quantcast.[13]
Kudos to Dairy Farmers as their media talents and tactics come of age. Well done.-CG
How Should Farm Performance Be Measured?
Posted: 06/06/2013 11:35 am
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Studies, like the recent one by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, that attempt to undermine the value of supply management to Canadian agriculture must be examined carefully.
These studies compare Canada to other nations and often state that we are lagging behind. In the case of the OECD study, it claims Canadian dairy farmers have a "particularly low" economic performance. The methodology that is used for these comparators is flawed in many respects. It defines "economic performance" as a comparative to "global competitiveness," uses tools that the OECD itself has claimed to be inadequate (e.g. Producer Support Estimate calculation) and lacks consistency in the data utilized (e.g. all farms in Canada compared with only larger farms in EU).
Canadians would also find it puzzling that the OECD would not include investment by farms in modern technology as indicator of performance. Here again, dairy farms in Canada are leading the pack in investing in robotics and other technology that make farms more efficient.
In the end, it is interesting that Germany, Belgium and Australia are held up as areas where farmers are identified as performing better from an economic standpoint. But that makes one wonder why dairy farmers in Germany, Belgium and Australia have taken to the streets to protest a system based on world prices that has made it increasingly difficult for them to cover their costs?
We don't see that in Canada. Supply management not only ensures consumers can access high quality dairy products, but it also ensures efficient farmers -- not all of them! -- can receive a fair price for the milk they produce based on their costs. Read more at: the Huffington Post- How Should Farm Performance be Measured?
