APAS Urges Premier to Recall the House for Emergency Debate

August 17, 2005 ( REGINA). The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) today launched an appeal to the Premier of Saskatchewan, asking him for the second time this year, to invest strategically in Saskatchewan agriculture. The association is expressing great concern over the impact that today’s huge fuel cost increases will have on farmers, coming at a critical time of the year, and imploring the Government of Saskatchewan to help.

We have formally asked the Premier to reconsider our request for a cash injection or a fuel rebate based on their surplus projections and to recall the House for an emergency debate on this issue’, announced Terry Hildebrandt, President of the association. ‘Many farmers are working hard to take off a crop they know they won’t make a penny on, while the government sits on a financial windfall.”

Mr. Hildebrandt stated “Every vehicle operator feels the burden of today’s cost of fuel. However, these dramatic changes in fuel costs will in turn produce negative effects on a wide range of business sectors in this province. Most businesses and consumers will have to find a way to pass on their increased costs, it’s a simple fact of life. The simple rule of economics that you can’t sell a product at a loss applies to all businesses except for the province’s agricultural producers. Farmers and ranchers simply have no mechanism to pass on their increased cost.”

Mr. Hildebrandt went on to say “Farmers were already in crisis prior to this year’s increase in fuel costs. The two greatest expenditures of fuel on the farm occur during the seeding and the harvest period. Compared to the 2004 harvest, we are looking at a twenty to thirty five percent increase in fuel cost alone. Yet we have no means to pass on a single penny of that increased cost to our buyers.”

“The government needs to recognize the economic impact that dramatically reduced farm cash flow from a primary sector of the economy will have in both urban and rural communities. It will have a dramatic and lasting impact on many sectors of Saskatchewan’s economy.”

We believe our request is both reasonable and equitable to all the taxpayers of Saskatchewan, and we ask the Premier of Saskatchewan to act now, and to provide some assistance.

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(Authored and distributed by APAS)