Australian potato wars

Remember the Manitoba potato wars, in which the ruling government-backed cartel banned anybody from selling potatoes grown in their garden?

Looks like West Australia is also crazy. 

Tony Galati, owner of Spudshed – a growing chain of discount greengrocers in Perth – and the man given the unlikely moniker of “rebel potato grower”, has been in and out of court with Western Australia’s potato regulator, the Potato Marketing Corporation (PMC), for the past five years.

On Wednesday, supreme court judge Paul Tottle granted the PMC an injunction against Galati. He has been ordered not to sell or otherwise distribute potatoes in excess of his official quota, which is set by the PMC and based on the estimated domestic demand for potatoes in any given quarter.
...
Galati has previously said he’s prepared to go to jail for contempt of court rather than deny his customers cheap spuds. He stopped short on Wednesday of explicitly saying he would defy the court order, but admitted his next steps could “possibly” land him in jail.

“The thing is we are in 2015,” he said. “The present government should be absolutely embarrassed to drive us to the supreme court to get an injunction to try and stop us growing potatoes to be competitive in this state. I can’t believe it.”

Both the ruling Liberal party and the opposition in WA have promised to deregulate the potato industry after the 2017 election. In light of those plans, Galati said, it makes no sense to take court action against him now.

Read the whole thing and weep.

Whenever somebody proposes regulatory harmonization with Australia as solution to anything, remember that Australia is barking mad.

Ceasefire in the spud wars

After some very bad press for Peak of the Market, with the comments section on every story I saw vehemently against Peak's behaviour, Peak has backed down. Writes the Potato Coalition:

The agreement includes:

• A complete 5 acre exemption for small potato producers
• A complete 1 acre exemption for small root crop producers
• Growers under these exemptions may sell year round to all Farmers Markets, small independent retail, road side stands and restaurants.
• This is a complete exemption that will require no permits or regulatory procedures from Peak of the Market.
• The parties will meet in consultation to discuss any future issues

Unfortunately, my prior links to the Potato Coalition's blog are now broken; they've taken down all of their old content.

I wonder if Peak was scared they'd lose their cartel position over this. Allowing a small competitive fringe avoids some bad press while ensuring that any of those less-than-5-acre growers can never grow into a real competitive threat without joining the cartel.

Update: Erin has more here.

A group of farmers, retailers, and other concerned parties got together about 3 weeks ago to fight the crippling regulations. We formed the Potato Coalition of Manitoba, and I was a part of the main organizing committee. I have just spent a VERY busy 3 weeks in meetings, working with farmers to hear their concerns, and writing up a proposal for Peak. We received immense public support, which we believe forced Peak's hand. We met with Peak of the Market on Friday at 1 pm, where after a 20 minute meeting, Peak agreed to repeal the current regulations, advise to Marketing council to enact new regulations that are much more open, and agreed to work with our group, me specifically, to re-write the regulations to be more inclusive.

I am beyond thrilled with the response that we received and am very much hoping that this decision on the part of Peak will usher in a new era of Marketing Boards working to support small farmers. I am thrilled that you the public who has less of a personal stake in this issue spent time writing to the minister and the powers that be as really this is what forced the hand of change.

And she points to a few looming issues:

The province of Manitoba in a misguided attempt make our food system "safer" may soon be disallowing farmers from keeping their potato seed. This will of course, reduce the number of varieties of potatoes available, and thus reduce agricultural biodiversity in the province.

The province of Manitoba is also attempting to shut down the elk farming business in Manitoba, once again in a misguided attempt to make our food system "safer"

Manitoba visitors to New Zealand, especially the farm folks where I grew up, would do well to see the paddocks of farmed deer here being raised....

Manitoba potatoes - again! [updated 2]

Update: The comments section in this Winnipeg Free Press article is scathing.

Update 2: Links in the post below are now broken; see update here.
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It looks like what was supposed to have been an easing of regulations to let small Manitoba potato growers sell product to small vendors (recall, the whole industry is a cartel run by three big potato farms with legislative mandate to squash anyone else) has turned instead to further cartelization of the industry.

And so my sister's having to start fighting again to be able to sell potatoes from her shoppe this summer. Check the Manitoba Potato Coalition blog.

The new legislation means that if a Manitoba grower produces as little as one acre of potatoes, they must apply to Peak of the Market for a permit. The new law states that they are permitted to sell only ‘freshly dug’ potatoes, and that these potatoes can only by sold ‘in bulk’ (in other words, not in pre-packaged bags) with specific conditions on who they can sell to. It states that any potatoes the grower has left after November 1 each year cannot be sold.

The Marketing Council and the Manitoba government have allowed Peak of the Market to concentrate the potato industry to a point where today there are only 13 registered growers with Peak of the Market – with three of their largest growers supplying more than 50% of the potatoes for Peak of the Market’s domestic quota market. When Manitobans purchase locally grown red table potatoes from a major retailer, they are purchasing potatoes through only these 13 growers because of Peak of the Market’s monopoly control.

Without a permit, a small potato producer in Manitoba is no longer allowed to sell their produce anywhere, including independent vegetable stands. Even with a permit, these producers will not be able to sell their potatoes to year-round vegetable stands, restaurant owners, or vegetable wholesalers. Under the new legislation, the only potatoes that can be supplied to these places have to come from Peak of the Market and their 13 growers.

Our hope is that Manitobans will join us in asking our provincial government to amend the legislation to be more fair for all Manitoba producers, allowing small potato producers to grow and sell up to five acres of potatoes each year without restrictions.

This post breaks things down nicely:

Here’s what it will mean to YOU this summer.
ALL MANITOBANS:

• With the new regulations introduced on March 31, 2010, you now have less choice when it comes to picking locally grown potatoes
• When you buy Manitoba grown red potatoes from a major retailer, you are only supporting Peak of the Market’s 13 member potato growers because of their monopoly control within Manitoba

Small Potato Growers:

• If you grow even as little as one acre of potatoes, you must apply to Peak of the Market for a permit
• You are permitted to sell only ‘freshly dug’ potatoes
• Your potatoes can only be sold in bulk (no pre-packaged bags)
• Any potatoes unsold by November 1 every year ‘must be given to a food bank’

Farmers’ Markets and Seasonal Vegetable Stands:

• Farmers wishing to sell potatoes must obtain a permit
• Potatoes can no longer be sold at any market after November 1 of each year
• Potatoes can now only be sold in ‘bulk’ (ie. no pre-packaged bags)

Year-Round Vegetable Stands:

• Under these new regulations, small potato producers are no longer allowed to sell to you

Restaurant Owners:

• If you wish to feature locally grown potatoes on your menu, they must now be purchased exclusively through Peak of the Market

Vegetable Wholesalers:

• If you want to sell Manitoba grown potatoes, they must now come exclusively from Peak of the Market

Good luck in the good fight, Erin! Why the Manitoba government thinks it has any business stopping her from buying potatoes from her preferred farmers... Canadian agriculture has a lot of problems.

More Manitoba potatoes

I'd previously blogged on scraps between small potato farmers in Manitoba and the marketing board. CJOB radio in Manitoba hosted a call-in show where Erin Crampton (Crampton's Market) and Trevor Schreimer (her supplier) went head to head with Larry MacIntosh (Peak of the Market) and Ian Wishart from Keystone Agricultural Producers. It's here, starting at the 10:49 mark.

MacIntosh notes that while they have full power to shut down every roadside stand in the province, they've condescended to allow these to exist; they're going to consider, over the winter, whether to write in specific exemptions to allow small growers to sell at roadside stands and at farmers' markets. Those exemption may not allow folks like Shreimer to sell to small independent grocers who focus on local produce; it'll depend entirely on the whims of the 40-odd large growers who comprise Peak of the Market's board. At least that's my paraphrasing of what he said -- he makes it sound prettier (democratic outcome of votes of members, etc).

It's the medieval guild system. You can operate if all the other folks in the guild think you should be able to operate, but only in the way that they'll allow you to operate.

Callers to the programme thought it ridiculous that anybody should have to seek another's permission to sell a potato. Other callers complained of similar problems for free range chicken growers in getting around the poultry marketing board.

The way MacIntosh and Wishart talk, it sounds like it would be impossible for New Zealand to have functioning markets in potatoes - we don't have marketing boards. And yet I'm perfectly able to buy potatoes, and potato growers seem to survive perfectly well. Perhaps I've just imagined the potatoes I've here been eating.

Update: Note Bartley Kives's recent story in the Free Press.