Sometimes I muse about being a rancher/farmer and what that feels like. Other times I muse about matters that might affect our lifestyle and our businesses.
This musing is about a looming thing which may have a game changing effect on farms and ranchers.
According to Deloitte, a major accounting firm, “Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations continue to transform today’s financial landscape.”
This means that companies in the supply chain of food production are being affected by the need to be accountable and transparent not only to the consuming public, but increasingly to the providers of financing for farm and food operations.
This was a front-page story in the Western Producer, the major weekly newspaper which targets farmers of Canada.
Who would have thought that the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) would be the subject of protest at their recent annual fundraiser dinner. The issue the protesters were raising was that in their view, the SPCA doesn’t report out. Here are two reports out of that event:
As part of their protest, the activists called on B.C.’s Minister of Agriculture Pam Alexis to replace the BC SPCA with a more transparent, accountable, and effective enforcement agency. (\ newsletter)
“The activists want Alexis to replace the BC SPCA, a private charity that is accountable only to its board of directors, with a government agency that is accountable to the people of B.C.
This trend could possibly affect all organizations, both in business and civil society (public interest).
This article in the Producer cites other evidence of this trend of accountability. There is the note that the Canadian Securities Administration and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions are developing increased ESG reporting requirements for Canadian companies.
Pressure on farmers will come through transparency forces in the value chain. Further, this article reports the recently passed Modern Slavery Act (Bill S-211) will mandate increased reporting requirements for certain Canadian companies around labour throughout the value chain, targeting forced labour and child labour.
As farmers and ranchers, these issues are so much bigger than any one of us, but could well affect anyone doing direct marketing to consumers. But if we are dealing with exporters or importers, we must be aware of these trends.
I don’t see our loans officers at our banks asking for ESG reports before they give us an operating loan or a loan for land purchase any time soon.
However, some of this might come about through major financial institutions, particularly public ones like the Farm Credit Corporation, which finances farm businesses in Canada.
It would be best for us to be aware and act at the local level to be ready to defend our food production in terms of the social and environmental impacts of our practices: our treatment of land and animals.
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