Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 7, 1971, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press tuesday december 7, 1971 protests by Canadian Farmers Aid european tractor makers i _ i i i it to rom. _ t i. By Garry Fairbairn Ottawa up protests by farm organizations several years ago against High priced farm tractors May have altered the pattern of imports to the Benefit of italian romanian and soviet manufacturers. Statistics Canada figures show these countries begin Ning to move into the Cana Dian tractor Market. But sales still Are small., in 1967, Italy sent 281 trac tors to Canada. For 1970 the figure was 918 and during the first eight months of this year have come in under the heading of wheel tractors All farm tractors. No soviet tractors were imported As recently As 1969, but 52 came in during 1970 and 65 during the first eight months of 1971. A Legal dispute be tween the soviet exporter and Canadian importer however has stalled further sales. Imports of the romanian Universal tractor have shown a marked increase. None were imported in 1969 and Only nine in 1970, but 506 had entered in 1971 by the end of August. The Royal commission on farm machinery had reported that Many of the traditional suppliers of National corporations with factories in several countries pursuing a discriminatory pricing Selling in Canada for higher prices than in countries such As Britain. The major producers Are International Harvester Ford Massey Ferguson j. I. Case and John Deere. Oba Market thrives Benin Nigeria a there s a booming business in Crocodile meat Smokey Monkey on a stick and giant snails at the traditional Oba Market in Benin. Not far away is the state owned Ultra modern hotel Ben Del where travellers can feast on French onion soup Scampi _ and Esca Lope vie noise. In Nigeria Black Africa s most populous state the Jet age and ancient traditions happily co exist. Benin the mighty Empire and a major source of slaves in centuries gone by is changing with the rest of Africa new schools office buildings roads and hotels. But its open air Market from the Palace of the Oba o r traditional King of Benin is probably the most interesting mixture of old and new in this capital City of Nigeria s mid West state. It s a dazzling profusion of hawkers children goats Chic kens shoppers and dogs where you can buy toothpaste and Nail polish or vulture Heads and sea shells for juju magic. Market mummies dressed in Eye catching Robes of red Green Blue and yellow run hundreds of dreary wooden stalls sheltered by corrugated roofs. They Are ready to make a Deal with anyone willing to bar gain. If tourists show up a Price fixing system goes into operation. No matter where you go in the Market Kola nuts shrimp cloth or any other Mer Chandise is suddenly triple the Price nigerians themselves would pay. Walking past the congested stalls is occasionally a Shock for the squeamish foreigner but invariably an interesting experience. Smoked Monkey on a stick head and All is about Mon key thigh is deemed tastiest porcelain basins held chunks of fresh Crocodile meats. It tastes very said a stall waving a piece in the air. Across the narrow pathway j huge snails a delicacy Are of i feed at about a dime apiece. Playful children poke turtles piled in a Large Backet until one pops his head oot to investigate and is met by a chorus of gig Gles. Flying Feather and frantic come from chickens packed together in Reed baskets. Nanny goats and kids bleat from i hair tethering posts. At the next stall a wizened Market Mammy shoos away the flies As she neatly stacks her Kola nets and Tosi toes in appealing Pyramid displays Al the Wink taking care not to Dis to serb the baby tied Papoose eke to her Back. The Canadian Farmer is the one who the re port said. It listed Price differences Between Canada and Britain of up to on 45 to-60-horsepower tractors and on 60-to-75-horsepower tractors with the Canadian buyer paying the higher Price in each Case. On tractors Over 75 horsepower however Brit ish prices were higher. The report estimated that a third of the Price difference was due to higher made on the machines sold in Canada. Only two thirds was due to lower British costs. It said Multi National corporations sought to prevent Cana Dian farm organizations buy ing their products in Britain and shipping them Here for Sale at lower prices than the corporations charged in can Ada. But Little Chance for the new importers to slice deep into the Canadian Market is seen by k. R. Graydon executive director of the Canadian farm and Industrial equip ment Institute in Toronto. A major reason is Lack of service and parts Able to com Pete with the. Well established networks of the major Multi National manufacturers he said. Moreover the major sup pliers were c o m p e t i v. E among themselves and few Canadian Farmers lacked Choice from among three to five different dealers. Any permanent break through by the newcomers has a Long Way to go on the basis of statistics. There were tractors imported last students end Boycott valve raft f year and came from the ., from Britain from West Germany and 30 from France. Most of the British imports were via the established big Multi National firms and farm associations accounted for a much smaller slice. In 1966, the traditional sources supplied a much higher ., British West German and 304 French. They were Worth hard times for Grain Farmers on the Prai Ries Stace 1966 spell the differ the Purchase of tractors is picking up again. One of the leaders in the revolt against the pricing poli cies of the Multi National corporations was the Ontario federation of agriculture. In 1968 it set up an Agency to import farm tractors from Britain. Today Ofa manager Jack Hale said the Price differential is less. We remain in the business just As a protective measure in Case the Price spread develops again. We re just keeping a close Eye on the Market being very sensitive to any increases in Domestic tractor prices and if it s favourable to import some we of course publicize it widely and it has the effect of making the Domestic prices slow up and re verse their trend. If it does to we go farther in our Robert Misch manager of the Ontario farm machinery Agency in Elmwood ont said in an interview that on Tario tractor prices came Down when the Ofa established the Agency to import tractors. His Agency in 1969 was sell ing Ford tractors for to on options. Now they sold for More than still less than the Price for the same tractor bought through regu Lar channels he said. Or. Misch said that three years ago we opened up a whole new world for Many jumping on the bandwagon was Michael v. Bazilli of Oak Ville out., president of twin lakes tractors ltd., who in 1970 signed 3 contract to import soviet machines. Fifty came in june 1970, and 25 More in March 1971. Almost All were placed with dealers and More than 40 sold relatively quickly he said. The soviet Union then sought Toic tinge the contract and a lawsuit has halted further sales. The Outlook was excellent and breaking into the Market was a Back breaking Job and now no one seems to be Able to Benefit from or. Misch said. government most vigorous Pusher of tractors in the View of economist Peter Appleton of the agricultural economics research Council. The romanian tractor was shown at Many Prairie fairs in 1970 and the romanians were will ing to train Canadian mechanics and examine methods of arranging credit for Purchas ers. But if you re a pampered North american Farmer you re not going to buy a romanian or. Apple ton said. They could do the Job Well but were crude rough and 30 years behind the times in style. Moreover North american tractors had safety features missing on romanian and so Viet tractors. Or Appleton said the new exporters Are a constant re minder to the traditional firms that the Farmer has Al Ternate Means of Supply. Another potential alternate is Canadian cooperative implements Winnipeg an importer of tractors and parts since Well before the Royal commission began its studies. Our product is competitive with whatever is on the mar said cc1l Pricer Harold Otto. The firm imports tractor frames and motors from swe Den and West Germany and plans to make its own tractors by 1974. It now makes har rows and swathes and is about to begin manufacturing combines. Some farm spokesmen say they Are still unsatisfied. The National Farmers Union pres ident Roy Atkinson of Saska Toon said prices set by Dominated multinational corporations Are still unreason Able As the Nofu has urged the government to take measures to ease the Burden on the Canadian Farmer. 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