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One in Twenty Farmers in Canada (6%) Indicate That the Federal Budget Will Help Their Farm Operation, While Twice as Many (13%) Feel it Will Hurt Their Farm Operation
However, Most Feel the Harper Government is Committed to Doing What it Takes to get Canada’s Economy Back on Track

Winnipeg, MB - An Ipsos Forward Research poll of members of Producers’ Perspectives ~ the Ipsos Canadian AgriForum, conducted just after the details of the federal budget were released, indicates that only one in twenty Canadian agricultural producers (6%) feel that the budget will help their farm operation, while twice as many (13%) believe that the budget will hurt their farm operation.

The majority of Canadian farmers are of the opinion that the recently released federal budget will neither help nor hurt their operation (48%), or are they are unsure of the impact that it will have (33%).

* On a regional level, farmers in Saskatchewan are the most likely to think that the budget will hurt their operation (19%), followed by farmers from Atlantic Canada (17%) and British Columbia (15%).
* Farmers from Atlantic Canada (10%) are also among the most likely to feel the new budget will help their operation, followed closely by Alberta farmers (9%). Conversely, producers in British Columbia (3%) and Quebec (1%) are least likely to feel this way.

Three quarters of the Canadian farmers (74%) disagree with the statement “the budget helps the agricultural industry in Canada”; with a large portion strongly disagreeing with this comment (33% strongly versus 40% somewhat disagree).

* Regardless of region, the majority of farmers indicate that they do not think the budget helps the agricultural industry. Farmers from Quebec (81%) and Saskatchewan (79%) are the most likely to disagree with the notion that the budget will help their industry, while farmers from Alberta (65%) are the least likely to feel this way.
* Of note, farmers from Saskatchewan disagree most strongly with this statement; nearly half (47%) strongly disagree that the budget helps the agricultural industry in Canada, followed closely by farmers from the Atlantic region (41%) and Quebec (38%).

Despite the fact that the majority of Canadian farmers do not feel the federal budget will help their operation or the Canadian agricultural industry in general, the majority of farmers (63%) agree that the Harper government is committed to doing what it takes to get Canada’s economy back on track.

* Regionally, farmers from the three prairie provinces (Alberta – 77%, Saskatchewan – 71% and Manitoba – 69%) are most likely to agree that the Harper government is committed to doing what it takes to get Canada’s economy back on track, while farmers from Quebec (40%) are least likely to hold this view.