AgriPost December 27 2019

The AgriPost

December 27, 2019

Canada’s Ag Ministers Target AgriStability Programs and Trade

CFA Frustrated with Results of FPT Meeting on Business Risk Management Following the recent Special Federal Provincial Territorial (FPT) meeting of Agriculture Ministers in Ottawa, CFA is disappointed with the lack of clear progress towards meaningful reforms of the BRM suite and frustrated with the lack of urgency in responding to the immediate challenges confronting Canadian producers.

The comprehensive review of BRM programs has been underway for nearly three years. While CFA appreciates the continued focus of FPT governments on this critical issue, the continued lack of progress towards any significant program reforms leaves farmers without much-needed relief at this critical time, nor any certainty that assistance is on the way.

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Devin Dreeshen Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, David Marit Minister of Agriculture, Bloyce Thompson Minister of Agriculture and Land, André Lamontagne Ministre de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation, Marie Claude Bibeau, Co-Chair, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Ernie Hardeman, Co-Chair, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Blaine Pedersen Minister of Agriculture and Resource Development, Lana Popham Minister of Agriculture, Keith Colwell Minister of Agriculture.

Federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture met face-toface for the second time this year to initiate action on a number of key proposals to improve support to Canadian producers. This meeting follows what has been a difficult year for many producers, mainly related to bad weather, the CN work

stoppage and market access issues.

During the meeting the Ministers recognized that the risks facing producers have changed, particularly with respect to climate and international trade, and that current programs may need to evolve to meet their needs. To start to address these changing risks, Minis-

ters made targeted improvements to the AgriStability program.

Officials are tasked to change the treatment of private insurance for the 2020 program year. In addition, understanding that administrative burden is an issue for many, in particular for smaller producers, a pilot program has been launched

Lacklustre Commitments to Canadian Farmers at Ottawa Meeting

in select jurisdictions to make applying for support easier, by using tax return information to simplify the application process.

By April government officials are to report back in April on an assessment of the business risk management programs to ensure they are aligned with their

The Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) members are disappointed and frustrated by the outcome of the federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers’ meeting held recently in Ottawa.

“Despite all of these pressing challenges facing farmers across the country, the federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers were unwilling to make any changes to the AgriStability program,” said GCC Chair Jeff Nielsen. “This is when farmers need it most and our representatives are providing us with zero support.”

This was the second time this year that Ministers of Agriculture met to discuss the much-needed improvements to the business risk management suite, something that all Canadians farmers rely

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December 27, 2019

The AgriPost Canada’s Ag Ministers Target AgriStability Continued from page 1...

Programs and Trade intended objectives. In addition, new options are to be developed to make the programs more effective, agile, timely, and equitable for producers. In particular, an evaluation will be done regarding the impact of changes to the reference margin limit and changes to eligible expenses under AgriStability.

Ministers also took the opportunity to advance other priorities in the agriculture sector. They reviewed FPT-industry work on prevention, preparedness, response and recovery planning to African Swine Fever (ASF), which is a shared responsibility.

All agreed on the importance of strong biosecurity protocols to prevent ASF from entering Canada.

Since the Ministers’ last meeting in July, Canada has signed zoning agreements with the US and the EU and continues to engage other trading partners to al-

low for trade to continue in the event of an outbreak.

The Ministers also reiterated their commitment to evidence-based rules to support free and open trade, and resolved to continue the strong collaboration among jurisdictions and with industry to address market access restrictions. They discussed the trade challenges impacting industry, particularly the canola, pork and beef, and soy sectors and recognized the need to work with the sector to support industry’s sustainability, profitability and growth.

In support of Canada’s supply management system, Ministers reiterated the importance of providing compensation to supply-managed producers and processors in a full and fair way in response to the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the Comprehensive and Pro-

gressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.

The federal government is taking the appropriate steps to announce details as soon as possible.

A roundtable session allowed Ministers to discuss other priority items such as the importance of finding solutions to labour challenges facing the sector; issues including modernizing, aligning and eliminating overlaps and gaps in Canada’s regulatory framework to reduce barriers to interprovincial and international trade; mental health; and animal activism. Ministers are united in their commitment to strengthen Canada’s agri-food sector to increase global economic competitiveness and for the agriculture sector to realize its economic potential.

The next Minister’s meeting will take place in Guelph, Ontario, in July 2020.

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Management Leading up to this meeting CFA has continued to highlight the need for an urgent and transparent assessment process to determine the extent to which short-term measures are needed in response to the unique traderelated challenges affecting a number of major Canadian agricultural commodities in 2019.

At the same time, CFA has noted for years that enhanced AgriStability coverage is needed to ensure farmers have the help they need moving forward to help manage the increasing risks they face beyond their control.

“The fact that Ministers were unable to commit to truly meaningful program reforms, while pushing this issue further down the road through further program reviews, suggests a lack of urgency and a continued dis-

connect between FPT governments and the realities facing farmers. Farmers continue to see increased trade and policy-related risks exacerbate already challenging weather conditions, threatening the viability of many farms and undermining the primary agriculture sector’s capacity for economic growth,” said CFA President, Mary Robinson.

“We are disappointed.

Farmers from across all regions of Canada have clearly identified that a return to AgriStability coverage at 85% without a reference margin limit presents a simple, interim solution that can be implemented immediately while longer-term programming changes are considered. Additional review and consultations only further delay this much needed response, leaving farmers with the sense that their Govern-

ments are not grasping the critical issues at hand,” said Robinson.

The CFA calls on Minister Bibeau and her Ministerial colleagues from across Canada to respond to farmers’ call for action through urgent and significant reforms to AgriStability that truly enhance the level of risk management support available to producers at this critical juncture.

To ensure Ministers have the capacity to make these reforms, CFA calls upon the Prime Minister and Premiers from across Canada to ensure agriculture Ministers have the flexibility needed to provide this critical assistance.

CFA is ready to work hand in hand with FPT governments to support this work, while continue to explore the longterm reforms needed for the next policy framework.

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Meeting on. Yet once again, no meaningful changes have been put in place, leaving all Canadian farmers reeling and discouraged.

The disappointing conversation in Ottawa is a particularly disheartening way to end a year that was already extremely difficult for Canadian farmers. Farmers continue to experience access challenges in key international markets. Canadian canola

and soybean are rejected by China, Saudi Arabia is refusing Canadian barley and India has increased tariffs on pulses. Additionally, farmers are feeling the adverse effects of the China/USA trade war.

Simply, global markets are no longer reliable; the trade environment is increasingly unpredictable as protectionism rises globally.

Additionally, another year of unprecedented rainfall,

hail and snow has left acres of product that cannot be harvested. As a result, farm debt is accelerating at a frighteningly unprecedented rate and net farm incomes are projected to fall further than the 45 per cent decrease in 2018.

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The AgriPost

December 27, 2019

Dairy Producers Dealing with Trade and Environmental Concerns

Dairy barn belonging to David Wiens of Grunthal and Chair of the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba.

Last summer’s extremely dry presented a challenge, then when harvest came in September there was too much rain and then early heavy snowfall on Thanksgiving weekend made it very hard to complete the harvest said David Wiens of Grunthal and Chair of the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba.

By Harry Siemens David Wiens, a dairy producer at Grunthal and Chair of the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba (DFM), sat down for an interview at the recent Manitoba Dairy Convention (MDC) in Winnipeg reflecting on the industry.

First, Wiens spoke about the weather. “Last summer’s extreme dry presented a challenge. When it came to harvest this September, much rain and then early heavy snowfall on Thanksgiving weekend made it very hard to complete the harvest,” he said. “Certainly in our area, but I expect, from other reports, crops were not that bad overall, considering the very dry summer with reasonable yields. It was just that it was a challenge, especially with the corn. There’s a collective

sigh of relief that we are now finally getting to the point of harvest completion, and we know where we’re at for the next winter.”

While participation at this year’s MDC remained high, producers appeared tired.

“Because people went flat out. I know that in our case the harvest was slow, just slogging through the mud from one end to the other. And it took a lot of extra equipment, extra workforce, and so yeah, the fatigue kind of sets in when things stretch out much more than they normally would,” he said. “But after all that, people came to the annual meeting, get caught up with what’s happening in the industry provincially, nationally, and just to rejuvenate.

It’s always good to touch base with people you know, your friends, exchange ideas, and just simply get caught up.

So I think everybody’s enjoying a little bit more of relaxed time to actually get together, celebrate in some cases, and so on.”

Wiens said Manitoba is just shy of 280 dairy producers.

“They’re fairly stable numbers, although we continue to have new entrants coming into our industry. So it’s al-

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reporting an 80 per cent increase in call volumes compared to previous years.

As it stands, the business risk management suite is incapable of meeting the majority of Canadian farmers’ needs.

Changes made to AgriStability in 2013 have resulted in a program that is unresponsive and inadequate. Farmers are dealing with challenges, the majority of which are well beyond their control, in isolation.

“There is a crisis facing farmers across the country. Our representatives should be trying much harder to fix this crisis and support Canadians whose livelihood is at stake,” said Nielsen.

GGC will not walk away and accept this unsatisfactory outcome. “GGC members will be calling on Minister Bibeau to consider other options to provide farmers with immediate support,” said Nielsen. “The reality is that Canadian farmers need support from the government when adversely impacted by trade, political and environmental forces beyond our control. The reality is that currently; we are not getting any essential support.”

ways good to see that people who are looking for opportunities within the dairy industry and dairy farming to have a program that’s going to help them get in.”

Again, like in the rest of the farming segments, dairy also looks to the international communities and trade agreements, but for the dairy sector these agreements do affect them differently as it pertains to the quota and supply management system.

“With the trade agreements signed recently, it forced some changes in the industry as to how we organize ourselves. We are working much more closely, as farmers and processors together. Without one or the other, the industry can’t happen. So we’re working on some of those things,” said Wiens. “Another issue is when you look at all the climate change demonstrations happening around the world, it’s very disconcerting to see how much misinformation is out there about the industry,

the cattle industry in particular. People are blaming us unfairly for somewhat questionable things.”

As Chair of the DFM and a vice-chair at the national level, Wiens said as producers and as the dairy industry, they need to take that seriously. “Because when you have a whole new generation of people that are, that get their information from where they do, most often from friends or the internet, they are the future decision-makers in the country,” he said. “We have to show how we benefit the environment, that our carbon footprint isn’t what some would put it out to be. We must explain that to people, so they understand that the dairy industry and we need to work with other livestock groups too, where we are contributing to the benefit of the environment.”

The Grunthal dairy producers noted the farm cycle of sustainability that the manure that comes off of dairy opera-

tions is organic fertilizer used to build up the soils. “For example, think of the land where we raise our cattle; much of that land is not conducive for cultivation and cropping,” said Wiens. “It creates a carbon sink, which is what we’re trying to accomplish. So I see that as something that we need to keep our eyes on, and we need to be able to give good and concise answers.”

He said other public con-

cerns are animal care and that farmers make up less than two per cent of the overall population. “So we simply cannot assume that people know our story or know how we take care of our animals and the environment. And it’s not their fault for not knowing because we haven’t told them,” said Wiens. “I think that conversation, it doesn’t need to be a lecture; it needs to be a conversation. And we find, very much, that people are open to hearing our story.

Yes, we have our extremists, the activists that are out there to end animal agriculture. But those people are in the minority. We have so many people that are wanting to hear our story and that, once having heard the story; they are supportive of what we do and the dairy products that they buy as part of their grocery shopping. That’s very much a part of it.”

The Chair of the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, David Wiens shows his robotic milking system.

Photos by Harry Siemens

The AgriPost

December 27, 2019

CFA Statement on Agriculture and Agri-Food Mandate Letter The following is a statement from the recently released mandate letter for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau.

Dear Editor: The CFA is pleased to see the contents of the Agriculture and Agri-Food mandate letter. It has been an especially tough year for Canadian agriculture due to obstacles such as erratic weather, trade disputes and politically-motivated product bans. The mandate letter shows the government has been listening and looks to provide the sector with the capacity to surmount these obstacles in the future.

CFA was especially pleased to see explicit mention of developing methods to provide faster short-term support for farmers who are affected by trade disputes, something that the CFA has been pressing for since the summer. A review of Business Risk Management (BRM) programming is also mentioned, with a special focus on Agri-Stability. However, CFA is worried that the Liberal platform commitment of considering enhanced BRM support was not mentioned, and we are concerned with the limitations that cost neutrality imposes on any review of BRM programming.

CFA was also pleased to see that the Canada Water Agency would be developed. CFA, along with fellow stakeholders in both the agriculture and environment sectors, believe that new funding is needed to support a dedicated national program to reliably monitor the occurrence of pesticides in water and generate the data needed for the Pest Management Regulatory Agency assessments. We hope that the new Canada Water Agency will be mandated to carry out the monitoring to generate this much needed data.

CFA was disappointed that the letter did not expand the National Food Policy further, to be more holistic and truly reflect a whole-of-government approach. Any National Food Policy will require the coordination of multiple government departments to be effective, as food touches so many aspects of the daily life of Canadians, and we are disappointed to see the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food as the sole Minister with a mandate specific to the Food Policy.

Overall we at CFA believe this mandate sets the department on the right track. We will work diligently with government to ensure that farmers are at the table and that these policies meet their needs.

Mary Robinson CFA President

How Dare You!

From California, to France, to Chile and even Manitoba we’ve been beaten over the head with the notion of getting ourselves to zero carbon emissions. “How dare you!” is the latest rallying cry by those trying to panic us into draining our wallets via taxes. But what if maybe we’re not just emitting CO2? What if we’re actually capturing and storing more than we emit? The “how dare you” would be on the other foot and there’s good reason it should be.

When it comes to agriculture we are the, “Largest carbon capture operation in Canada.” We are already doing more than our fair share by taking more carbon out of the air and storing it than we release in the operation of our businesses. That’s a message Fraser McPhee (twitter handle Fraser@ FarmerFrase) delivered to the annual Prairie Oat Growers meeting recently. And he’s got the numbers to back it up.

McPee points out we’ve been justifying agricultures greenhouse gas exemptions, “Because we are growing food.” This isn’t great, because the people who mistakenly think the world is coming to an end don’t care. It’s not rational but their entire focus is on emissions and that’s it! “We need to qualify the good we are doing in a new way - with a simple message… the carbon we store in our grain, is one of the most important things we do to offset our greenhouse gas emissions.”

Using information from the

Government of Canada we can see that agriculture was 8% of emissions in 2017. Interestingly enough they don’t just count CO2 but also methane and nitrous oxide to come up with what they call a “CO2 equivalent” (CO2e) to estimate what they call “global warming potential”.

Their estimate for all of Canadian Ag was 60 Mt CO2e.

Important note, all emissions are “estimates”. That’s right the “listen to the science crowd” is working with best guesses. And McPee shows that the uncertainty in agricultural emissions is quite substantial in some, if not most cases. This should make all of us a little nervous. Uncertainty and estimates are a great recipe and temptation for those who want to torque the numbers to bolster their own case. The proverbial thumb on the scale so to speak.

Case in point, the government’s numbers are way out of whack on what happens with fertilizer compared to that of Fertilizer Canada. The estimate is based on provincial fertilizer sales, precipitation, evaprotranspiration, and topography and soil texture.

Meanwhile they ignore what farmers are doing and what Fertilizer Canada has been promoting for a long time now, which is putting the right source of fertilizer in the right place at the right time. The difference is significant.

There are many more examples of this kind of imprecise estimat-

Penner’s Points

By Rolf Penner

ing. Soil carbon sequestration, changes in land use, carbon capture in grain, etc. The bottom line is that not only is Canadian agriculture already at net zero emissions, according to McPhee’s calculations, “Farmers in Canada store 33Mt per year more CO2e than they emit.”

A fallacy in all this is an argument that “the carbon gets released anyway…” This may be true in other sectors but not in agriculture. Mainly because of the carbon that is stored in grain, which is actually very easy to measure and account for.

“Farmers in Canada store 100Mt of CO2e/yr. in grain but it’s going mostly unnoticed and we’re giving it away for free,” says McPhee.

This is a great point, farmers are already doing more than what they should be on this front and not only are they not getting rewarded for it they are getting punished through a slew of direct and indirect taxes on goods and services that are not optional, nor are there any alternatives.

Its bananas. How dare we? No, how dare you!

Pick a Road and Stay the Course 2019 was undoubtedly a year with many and extended mixed blessings. Having attended various producer meetings and conventions in the last three months, dairy, pigs, and more accurately keeping informed via the president of the Manitoba Beef Producers, all expressed challenges having to do with the weather and trade. In the case of cattle, producers’ feed and regulation changes to the crown land leases.

Throw in two elections into that mix, provincially and federally; writing and talking about farming became even more exciting.

I’m not going to rehash what has or hasn’t happened because we need to focus on our plans for next year.

In 1986, with my career at a crossroads, I developed a motto that I used in every

speech I gave, including many communication seminars from 1986 through 2007. First, the motto and it goes like this, “A positive mental attitude, to encourage and serve others will motivate me to do my best.” More recently, I added to this mix, to inspire others.

With elections, impeachments, political shortcomings, and many who want to destroy production agriculture as we know it today believe you me - we need direction in many cases, encouragement, and inspiration.

When my wife Judith passed on to Glory on May 18, 2018, I hit another crossroads. What comes to mind is Alice in “Alice in Wonderland” coming to a crossroads, and she asks the Cat, which way must I turn? Cat asks “Where do you want to go?” Alice says, “I don’t know.” “Well,” said Cat, “Then it doesn’t matter.”

Two days after the funeral,

I decided to get back to work, which then gave me reason and purpose because I knew I must travel on. It was a great decision because 19 months later, I’m still travelling on that same path - only almost two years older. Things aren’t without pain, heartache and tears, but life is most certainly worth living as I travel down this path.

I’m sharing this because farmers everywhere are facing some challenges, and some that may even seem impossible, seek a friend’s help, share with your spouse, talk to people who are there to listen, and in some cases, advice. I wrote this on Saturday morning and several things happened. On Friday morning, my choir colleague Ernie stopped by to visit, listen, and share. What a blessing and oh, so timely. Yep… Sometimes that is all it takes, a word of encouragement.

Next, a tweet crosses my

desk, “Hard time of year for a lot of folks. We can all help prevent suicide. Here is the Suicide Hotline” with numbers attached asking for retweets. I retweeted and said, I add my telephone number to the list. Most people may think, oh, that is a silly thing to do. Well, several retweeted my tweet, and I’m prepared to take a call.

Farmers make up less than two percent of the total population, and I liked what David Wiens, a dairy farmer from Grunthal and Chair of the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, said about one of the concerns he has of the farming sector.

A great thought, in my opinion, and I never quite thought of it that way. “Because when you have a whole new generation of people that are, that get their information from where they do, most often from friends or the internet, they are the future decisionmakers in the country,” he

said. “We have to show how we benefit the environment, that our carbon footprint isn’t what some would put it out to be. We must explain that to people, so they understand that the dairy industry, even does, and we need to work with other livestock groups too, where we are contributing to the benefit of the environment.”

Yes, all kinds of issues, but if we don’t know where we stand, and what makes us tick, then the so-called negative things happening in some case to us, around us, and whether far or near, make us go off the deep end. I’m telling you, I may not have all the answers, but I will first off, listen, care and help where I can.

In the truest sense of the season, I wish you a Merry Christmas, a great 2020, and may the Christ of Christmas who sustains me year-round do the same for you.

The AgriPost

December 27, 2019

Manitoba Needs Better Regulations if It’s Serious About Local Food Over the years, many entrepreneurial Manitoba farmers have tried to produce specialty foods consumers want and which are already being imported from other provinces and countries. These foods often require special production practices not covered

by Manitoba’s food safety rules. The Manitoba government has been reluctant to revise the rules to accommodate production of these specialty foods, which has resulted in a lost economic opportunity for Manitoba.

The story of local food entrepreneurs, Dustin Peltier and Rachel Isaak (Loaf and Honey), who are working to preserve the unique Trappist Cheese (now Prairie Tradition) raw milk cheesemaking tradition, is the latest example.

For 101 years, Trappist Cheese has been safely produced in Manitoba. When Brother Alberic from the Trappist Monastery near Holland, Manitoba passed his technique on, there was pride in knowing the tradition was being kept alive.

Dustin and Rachel have shown immense capability, knowledge and willingness to work with government

and farmers to continue making and selling this cheese in a safe and consistent manner. Unfortunately, they have not had needed support from Manitoba civil servants. In spite of their drive, sound business model, and ability to work with dairy producers or our food systems, Dustin and Rachel have now been forced to stop production. This is a direct result of the failure of Manitoba’s food regulation and inspection system to recognize there can be more than one technique to achieve food safety.

Dustin and Rachel have complied with Manitoba Public Health rules, then had new and different rules imposed. Manitoba Public Health also required tests that were antiquated, costly, and not always accurate, even though, modern, science-based tests that are less cost prohibitive are available. It appears that both the traditional cheese makers and Manitoba civil servants are caught in a system of outdated food production regulations and inappropriate rules designed for large operations.

We’re hearing that the Manitoba government has

a rigid view of food safety rules that excludes options that other provinces have successfully adopted in order to support and promote a more vibrant local food system.

The 2015 Manitoba government study, “Advancing the small scale, local food sector in Manitoba: a path forward” by Wayne Lees has several recommendations for a way forward. It notes “small scale food producers and processors feel their voice is not being heard.

There is an air of suspicion and disconnect between the small scale sector… and government extension experts and regulators” (46).

The study recognizes similarities between small scale food providers and processors. In the four years since it was published, few of the study’s recommendations have been addressed. Clearly, there is an urgent need for implementation of the recommendations to, “Promote practical certification programs for small scale producers and processors,” and “Develop and identify facilities for innovation and start-up food processors,” in order for small scale producers and processors to thrive.

One of the actions that had been implemented was to provide dedicated government extension officers to the small-scale food sector. Unfortunately, in recent years these services have been cut. But not having them makes it much harder to wade through the ins and outs of government regulations.

The Manitoba government needs to take action based on the Lees’ recommendations and make local food a more viable economic opportunity for farmers. Key actions urgently needed include Food regulations must be scale specific, must recognize that there are multiple science-based techniques for safe food production, that food testing is safe, up-to-date, reasonable, scale appropriate and clear, government officials must negotiate in good faith and in reasonable time frames and the government should provide dedicated local food extension officers.

Providing local food in a safe manner is vital to expanding economic opportunities and helping family farms connect with local markets. Regulations and inspections are essential to

PCs Taking Farmers and Rural Manitoba for Granted It’s been a hard year for too many farmers across Manitoba and the Provincial Government is not doing enough to respond. Multiple Rural Municipalities declared States of Emergency in 2019 because of significant drought followed by heavy rain in the late fall.

At the same time, the Government of Manitoba is going to be getting a larger-thanever increase in transfer and equalization payments from the Federal Government. In the next year, Manitoba will receive an increase of 10 per cent, or $255 million more than 2019-20.

MLA Jon Gerrard and I met with ranchers in the Dauphin and Ste. Rose area who are worried after the government has bungled the Crown Lands Leases program. Many producers, both young and old, are concerned about losing their equity. They could lose their farms or their retirement.

We also heard the call of RMs and producers who are facing severe feed shortages.

When we asked whether the Pallister Government would

step up and help, they denied there were any problems and all we got was evasion.

The Province must respond to ranching communities on whether there will be any assistance in moving feed to needed areas.

Ranchers in the Interlake are saying that without feed assistance, especially high-protein feed, they could lose twothirds of their herd. Some will face complete losses and a direct hit of millions of dollars on producers will multiply out into something much worse for farming communities.

Brian Pallister’s reforms risk undermining rural Manitoba and communities that depend on farm families. It does not seem to make a difference to the Premier or the PCs whether farms are owned and operated by Manitobans or by an out-of-province corporation. We believe it makes a huge difference to communities as well as to the local and provincial economy.

For our communities to thrive, having Manitobaowned operations in our communities is a priority. Strong

rural economies depend on local Manitoba-owned and run farms, where families can send their children to a nearby school, shop at local stores, and get health care close to home.

Building up Manitoba companies, including new family farms, means building up Manitoba’s wealth. The benefits of local ownership and commerce staying gives our communities room to grow and build more.

That is not the direction this government is headed in. They have handed contracts for serving rural Personal Care Homes to a big numbered company out of Ontario, shutting out locally owned rural pharmacies from this market. There is more talk of closing hospitals and reducing health care services in rural Manitoba.

These are all the actions of a government that is looking to accelerate decline, instead of investing in the services that Manitobans deserve.

The reality of Manitoba’s fiscal situation is that we could have a balanced bud-

get right now by investing in needed infrastructure, health, education, and ensuring that producers are sheltered from the cost associated with extreme weather events. To be competitive, no matter where we live in Manitoba, access to quality health care, education and infrastructure are all key priorities.

Investments would allow everyone from businesses to farmers to get their products to market without under loading their truck or ruining their shocks. That would provide a solid base for future economic growth.

Given massive transfer increases from the Federal Government, choosing not to invest it is a risky strategy. Relying entirely on federal transfer payments is even more so. If there is an economic downturn, this could all change very quickly. We need a focus on strong local development for now and into the future.

Dougald Lamont Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party MLA for St. Boniface

ensure safety. The regulations must be clear, appropriate, fairly administered and appropriate to the product and the scale of production.

We urge the Manitoba government to support a stronger local food sector

that helps farmers and local value-added processors grow by putting these recommendations into action this year.

Dean Harder and Kate Storey National Farmers Union - Manitoba

What Can You Say? Earlier this month I had the pleasure of attending a conference when one of the speakers addressed the issue of mindfulness in cultural awareness. Those of you that know me personally or have been following this corner of the page know that is what I’m about – more rules that keep us from saying something sensible or what we really mean because someone might be offended. So I attended the session armed with a pen and notebook fully intending to get some notes and change the way I think about other cultures or industries.

The speaker began by asking the assemblage what they thought were the most oft talked about topics when making small talk in Canada. We nailed it, the weather, and politics and sports were two and three in either order, but plainly the weather was number one.

Then the speaker outlined the topics of discussion in other countries, and it turns out in India the weather does not make the list, not even the top ten. “It is always hot, so there is no need to talk about it,” she said.

She explained that politics and insects were the topic of discussion. I could not understand the fascination with crickets but that is what she said and who am I, to challenge a speaker of renown?

She pointed out that when traveling or when people visit our country they cannot understand our fascination with the weather and constantly making it the topic of conversation. Now she was starting to make sense.

I made a note of it… if I ever travel to India I will not talk about the weather.

Then this week I got a note from a long time tine friend reminding me that it was 25 years since we had completed a Nuffield Scholarship and it was time for a reunion. I thought back to the days when fellows from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and France traveled together to view agricultural practices in your.

Most evenings our discussion would turn to how tough farming was in our individual countries and how the rest of the world had it easier than we did. Of course the Aussie had the same view, as did the Kiwis and everyone else.

One night after a serious round of bragging by the western Canadians where we pointed out that we farmed in the only place in the world where drought was the number one challenge and flooding number 2.

Everyone else had only one of the other, but the fellow from Zimbabwe stopped the show but saying, “You have not seen anything till you have had elephants walk through your coffee; that is a stopper.” He won.

I thought about our reunion coming up in March and I thought how this past year would give me a new story, how drought and flood took its toll in the same year just two months apart. Yes, I am armed with new stories and new extremes.

There is a reason we talk about the weather in this country, it is something to talk about and it gives us a good range of stories. 2019 was one we don’t need to challenge soon. Here’s hoping the new decade brings us some consistency and no droughts or floods.

December 27, 2019

The AgriPost

The AgriPost

Dairy Farmers Focus on the Bottom Line

A benchmarking group was formed in 1997 with 35 producers to compare overall milk production and financial results to find room for improvements said Roger Mills, a dairy consultant with Manitoba Dairy Farm Management Group who originally came to Canada in 1994 from England after milking cows for 27 years and another eight in Canada.

By Harry Siemens Several dairy producers and consultants formed the Manitoba Dairy Farm Management Group (MDFMG) in the spring of 1997 after several interested producers looked at similar Groups already operating in eastern Ontario and Quebec, some with 15 years experience.

Member-driven the Group elects a Board of Directors who operates the Group, its activities and hiring a Dairy Business Consultant.

“The Group aims to provide members with the opportunity to get to know their business better and make themselves more aware of the effects of rising costs in a period of static milk prices,” said their website. Participants present

their year-end financial and production data to the consultant who processes it into a business analysis report, providing members with the opportunity to compare their results with each other.

“Other benefits to members include the sharing of information, discussion of current topics through regular winter meetings, improved record/ book-keeping and the opportunity to network with their peers.”

One consultant is Roger Mills, who came to Canada in 1994 from England after milking cows for 27 years and another eight in Canada until his shoulders gave out, 35 years in total as a dairy producer. “We formed a benchmarking group in 1997 with

about 35 producers putting in production and financial results. A consultant would advise them as to whether they were high ranking or there was more room for the opportunity to improve,” said Mills.

When asked what the MDFMG is benchmarking Mills explained that they are comparing inputs to the bottom line. “Milk against feed but ultimately profitability. And, of course, in the industry, it is always a case of better efficiency in the barn linking that directly to the bottom line profitability,” he said.

“In the economic climate that we have today, it keeps reducing profitability and margins. In the last couple of years, with the problems with inventories for forage, its hit producers needing to buy extra feed. Their margins become so slim they’re looking more carefully at their business. Before that, you could be in dairying and be pretty well sure of making a living out of it. Now it’s more difficult. People are keen to look at where they can save money or where they can add value.”

The MDFMG produces a complete analysis for its members using a 45-year program out of Quebec. The Group receives all of the financial data from the producers, balance sheets, income and expenses, and debt servicing along with total production numbers. “We want to know how much milk they produce during the year,

how many tons of purchase concentrator or their grain, and fed forage,” said Mills.

“Once inputted into the program, we generate a report, review it with the producer and analyze the total performance.”

He said there is room to improve for more dairy people after looking carefully at their business. “I’m urging producers to do budgets, whether with us or someone else if they can’t do it on their own. To forecast for the next year what their budget is going to look like, leave room for the actual, and then let’s see,” he said. “And that’s the important thing because you’ve got to have a handle on some of these expenses. It might be some things that are totally out of your control.

In the last couple of years, we’ve had the weather issue and hay prices skyrocketing when we didn’t necessarily expect that, you can’t necessarily forecast that. But it’s something that you’ve got to have an alternative plan for rather than buying hay at that price, can we buy something else?”

He said their most significant event of the year is when they get together as producer members to compare notes and results. “And so for 36 producers, we split them into three group sizes, or we can grade them from facility type. By comparing your results with those of a fellow producer with that similar type of facility, that can be very helpful,” he said.

This Decade is Farmer 4.0

Ryan Riese is the head of Agriculture Strategy for RBC

By Les Kletke It may sound like a science fiction movie and only a few years ago the concepts would have been futuristic but the reality of what new technology offers for growth, is now.

Ryan Riese is the head of Agriculture Strategy for RBC and outlined what

Farmer 4.0 could look like.

Riese grew up on a family farm involved in s swine genetics in Manitoba before going to work in Calgary.

He said that changes over the next few years will be major for Canadian agriculture and continue in its ongoing evolution that began in the early 1900s when specialized seed allowed farmers to dramatically increase their production. “In 1920 when diesel power came along and changed the power of the farm from humans and animals to mechanization, the 1970s and 80s saw a greater increase in production and farmers became more business oriented and marketers,” Riese told Grain World attendees in Saskatoon in late Novem-

ber. “Now we are looking at the next big step and that will be about data and making the farmer of tomorrow more high tech.” He cited examples of drones being used in orchards in BC and greenhouse technology of Ontario.

“Self driving tractors could be a reality in Saskatchewan and the tools could provide more information to the farmer in real time,” said Riese. “The 4.0 farmer might be in a data centre or a modern laboratory making decisions on production that are based on the factors in the field.”

He said that while Canadian farmers are in a good position to take advantage of the developments it is not a given; rather it is a choice.

“We can maintain the status quo and see a growth rate of 1.1 %, which will see the agricultural GDP grow to $40 billion by 2030 or we can make the choice to adopt these new technologies with an expected 3% and reach a GDP of $51 billion dollars by 2030.”

He went on to say that Canada has been in the top 5 exporters of agricultural products since 2011 and that is a trend that could continue but not without some effort. The countries that are expected to have the biggest growth markets for agricultural products are Nigeria and India and neither are large Canadian markets at this time. “We will have to work to develop those markets but the potential is there,” said

December 27, 2019

Artificial Pollination Technology Advances About 75% of the world’s crops rely on insect pollination. Edete’s technology can replace nature’s pollinators like honeybees in order to help produce more food and meet the needs of the world’s growing population.

The Israeli start up, Edete Precision Technologies established in 2016, has successfully completed a series of field trials for pollen harvest and pollination in almond orchards in Israel using its unique pollen harvesting and mechanical pollination system.

The field trials are crucial for advancing the company’s planned entry into the huge almond market in California. The trials resulted in a substantially increased yield in Israel. Additionally, Edete has recently tested its technology in Australia and proved its ability to produce high-quality viable pollen.

There has been a decline of nature’s pollinators, namely insects and specifically honeybees, that together with some other shortcomings of the good old bee has led to an intensified search for a solution to solve the challenge facing farmers who need to grow more fruits. This challenge must be met in order for more food to be produced to meet the needs of the world’s growing population. About 75% of the world’s crops rely on insect pollination for yield and quality. Without an alternative pollination solution to reduce the dependency on honeybees in the coming years, food prices might climb sharply and supply might not meet the growing demand.

Larger commercial scale testing of Edete’s new system will continue in Israel and Australia. The company plans to begin a pilot program using the technology in 2022 in California, the world’s largest almond growing region. “We are initially focusing our efforts on almonds, but our game-changing technology has huge potential for a wide range of other crops as well,” said Eylam Ran, CEO and co-founder at Edete. The list of additional crops is long and includes apples, cherries, pears, blueberries, plums, cotton, rapeseed, and sunflowers, to name a few.

The global almond market is estimated at over $7 billion annually, while 80% of it is in the US, most of

Eylam Ran, CEO and Founder of Edete Precision Agriculture Technologies.

which is in California. Costs are rising, as growers spend on beehive pollination services over $400 million per season. “We will be targeting top tier producers in California, where 7% out of 7,400 growers account for more than half of the cultivated area,” noted Ran. The market structure is much the same in Australia.

Edete’s system is based on the mechanical collection of flowers and extracting pure pollen out of them.

The company’s proprietary method enables the maintaining of good germinability rates of pollen stored for over one year. The pollen is applied on the trees using the company’s unique robotic pollination system which utilizes a combination of technologies to disperse an optimal dosage of pollen on the target flowers to achieve effective pollination. The application units can work during day or night and independent of ambient temperature.

Edete’s business model is based on supplying pollination services, like current contracting of beehives, the price of which continues to rise. The service is expected to be competitive with current pollination alternatives but is expected to result in an estimated increase of 10%-20% in yields and with much less volatility from one growing season to the next.

Edete’s Chairman, Cofounder and one of the seed investors in the company is Ori Inbar, who served as a VP in SCR Dairy, which was acquired in 2014 for $240 million by Allflex, which now goes under the name Antelliq and was subsequently bought in 2019 by Merck/MSD for $3.7 billion. Inbar believes that, “The transformation that Edete hopes to bring about in the world of plant pollination will be no less revolutionary than what artificial insemination using frozen semen brought to dairy farming.”

December 27, 2019

New Export Markets for Agriculture Hold Potential Canada still has room to expand and diversify beyond its largest traditional markets for its top four agriculture exports, according to Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) most recent trade report.

But while there are opportunities to increase those exports, the report, “Diversifying Canada’s agriculture exports: Opportunities and challenges in wheat, canola, soy and pulses” identifies growing protectionism, distance and price sensitivity as hurdles Canadian exporters must overcome to diversify markets.

“Canada has done extremely well in establishing strong trade relations in a number of key markets thanks to a long-held focus on getting trade agreements in place,” said J.P. Gervais, FCC’s chief agricultural economist, in releasing the report.

“While we believe there is still room for growth in diversifying our agriculture export markets, it won’t be easy,” he said. “The long-term success of Canadian agriculture relies on our ability to provide a greater diversity in commodities and food products for new and existing export markets.”

In 2018, Canada was the world’s fifth largest exporter of agriculture commodities, worth almost $34 billion, behind the United States, Brazil, the Netherlands and China.

That same year, the United States accounted for just over 35.6 per cent of Canada’s total agriculture exports, while China, the world’s most populous country accounted for 22.9 per cent.

The report indicates Canada’s diversification of its export markets can help reduce financial risks for Canadian producers by lessening our dependency on dominant importers. When borders close for any number of reasons, due to trade tensions or shock caused by disease or weather, having a broader range of export markets allows Canadian exports to be re-allocated, rather than simply reduced.

The potential to diversify our export landscape is a function of the size and growth of import markets where our export presence has historically lagged.

According to the report Canadian canola exporters can expand diversification. Identifying further growth in exports to Europe is possible. Canadian canola exports to Europe increased in 2018 after being shut out of China.

Sustaining that export presence in the long term will be key to successful diversification.

The potential for further diversification of Canadian wheat exports is real, but many of the world’s largest and/ or fastest-growing markets are supplied by large, established nearby exporters.

Soybeans represent perhaps the best opportunity for Canada to further diversify export markets. For one thing, in a huge global market dominated by Chinese demand, Canada is a relatively small player. Our limited market share in multiple importing countries can be expanded.

However, soy trade flows in 2019 have provided a painful illustration of how China’s market concentration can foil Canadian market diversification efforts.

In a pulse market dominated by Indian importers, Canada is the world’s largest exporter. European (Germany, Spain and Belgium) and middle Eastern import markets (Pakistan and United Arab Emirates) hold the most potential for diversification.

The report notes some obstacles Canada faces in its push to further diversify its export markets. It’s often less costly for importers to source products from established suppliers; and China’s growing dominance as an agriculture importer serves to concentrate, not diversify, trade flows.

“Many of these challenges are beyond Canada’s control. But our reputation as a reliable producer of safe, high-quality commodities, combined with growing world demand and our competitive advantage on so many key exports, reduce some of the challenges facing Canadian agriculture,” Gervais said.

Meanwhile, Canadian producers can manage their risk in an uncertain global trade environment by keeping a close eye on new and evolving international markets.

“Canada’s agriculture industry is highly resilient and is driven by some of the most knowledgeable and innovative producers in the world,” Gervais said. “Ultimately, the success of Canadian agriculture in new and existing markets will largely depend upon our ability to meet consumer needs in those markets.”

The AgriPost

Dairy Farmers of Manitoba’s New Entrant Program Pays Off for Elm Creek family

By Harry Siemens The Dairy Farmers of Manitoba use the new entrant program to assist Manitobans with a keen interest in dairy farming to enter the industry.

Each year, Dairy Farmers of Manitoba (DFM) will grant 20 kg of daily butterfat quota at no cost to one successful applicant.

In a recent interview at the Manitoba Dairy convention in Winnipeg, Morley Jones of Elm Creek, Manitoba said his family was fortunate to get into the entrant program in 2010.

“A year and a half ago in May, we expanded through the program where the DFM accepted us to go beyond the 60 kg,” said Jones. “Now we run 116 kg, milk 90 cows and yeah, we got ourselves a full-time dairy farm.”

His application in 2010 included an interview process, lots of financial preparation and operational planning.

Dairy Farmers of Manitoba Chair, David Wiens said that the program was developed using insight gathered from applicants to the program, mentors within the industry, and financial advice from bankers so that new dairy farmers could succeed with hard work, dedication and passion.

Passing the test made them eligible to purchase their first 20 kg of milk quota and expanded to max out at 60 kg until they changed the rules again and allowed producers, after three years to expand beyond the 60 kg once again with a plan, approval, and an interview process.

Morley worked as a nutritionist dairy consultant but was raised on a dairy farm.

“I always say that my dad needed to retire worse than I needed to farm. There was no way for us to roll the family farm over. Dad sold the cows and quota, kept the farm,” he said. “And three years later, my wife and I, when we started having a family, were eligible to buy the home quarter from mom and dad, and they continued with their retirement and we had a clean start within the new entrance program.”

Jones and his father renovated a tie-stall barn into a parlour years before, then built a new loafing barn and recently added onto the old tie-stall barn more calving facilities and fresh cow facilities.

Morley and his wife Meaghen operate the dairy full time. “A school bus driver comes for about 15 hours a week in between his shift, and his 17-year-old daughter, who milk some evenings as additional help, about 15 hours a week. And we milk at 10 in the morning, ten at night, which works out for hockey practice, soccer, and Scouts,” he said.

Jones described his milking system as automation from the 80s, which includes a swing-over herringbone

Elm Creek, dairy farmer Morley Jones now operates a 116 kg, 90cow dairy farm because of the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba new entrant program.

parlour automatic take-off as very basic. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be the size to make a future for all four kids if they choose that, but that’s the goal. I mean, well, if you interviewed my wife, she might have a different goal, but for sure to get to the 160 kg in the next few years and then catch up after that,” said Jones. “Dad passed away as I said, so he got his chance to retire, which makes me happy. I didn’t want him to die milking cows, that’s for sure. So that was important.

And mom is great. Once we get to the 160 kg, we might start with a new facility and robots. The kids, they’d be okay with that. But they’re learning the hard work now.”

David Wiens, a dairy farmer at Grunthal and Chair of the DFM, describes what Morley Jones had to do to qualify

Trade show equipment at the Manitoba Dairy Convention held in Winnipeg Recently.

for the new entrant program.

“We expect the applicants to develop a business plan and be able to buy the 20 kg of quota, and we will allocate 20 kg of quota on a lifetime basis,” said Wiens. “So they can use that as long as they farm. In addition to that, we allow another 10 kg of quota if they meet certain milk quality requirements, be enrolled in milk recording, and so on. Mentorship is important. If they have some form of mentorship, those are important things that the committee really looks at. And so you score a certain number of points, you’re eligible for the 10 kg or a percentage of it depending on how you’ve scored. I think most of our entrants are eligible for the full amount so they can use those 10 kg for 10 years. And then after that, one kg comes off every year.”

Photos by Harry Siemens

The AgriPost

For China, African Swine Fever is Now a Food Issue

By Harry Siemens Hog commentator Jim Long said pork is moving back to China. In a recent interview at Hog Days in Brandon, Long said it started almost immediately after the announcement

by Prime Minister Trudeau that pork trade is moving back to normal.

“From what I understand, the Chinese buyers in the market before June when the border closed, came right back into the market,” he said.

“It’s a real positive for us as an industry. In May before the border closed down, the last full month, we shipped 45,000 tons of products to China, which in my farm arithmetic is about 450,000 market hogs equivalency a month. You know that border closed and then that pork had to go somewhere else and it hurt our hog prices. I believe what’s going on with China right now will be supportive, and it will continue for quite a long time.”

Long said China needs food.

It is in China’s self-interest to take pork from Canada because it is now a food issue.

“They need food. Three, four weeks ago China announced they were going to start taking the chickens from the United States. They hadn’t taken any chicken from the US for five years,” he said. “It wasn’t all of a sudden China liked the US. China needs food. The ASF situation in China has at least destroyed half their pig production, which would be equivalent to 25 per cent of all the pigs in the world. It’s a total protein food shortage that China has to address.”

Another reason is that China needs to import is to keep their food prices under control. The price of market hogs currently in China is five times the price they are in Canada.

Long, who heads up Genesus Genetics a pig genetics company that does significant business in China, described how devastating the African Swine Fever (ASF) is to the pig business in China. “The companies we work with, one company had 17 pig farms and now they have four. ASF eliminated 13 farms. Another farm had 13 different operations and they are now left with three. They are working at repopulating, but there is no breeding stock in China to do so. Long explained that they are using a lot of market hog gilts, but it is costly. “A market hog sells for about $650, so even if they put a market hog in, there is an opportunity cost of $650 US per head,” said Long.

When questioned on whether he sees the risk of ASF entering North America and specifically, Canada, he said, “Absolutely. It’s a risk. Now, I will make a couple of observations. It’s been in Poland for three or four years and hasn’t got to Germany. In that time millions of people and tens of thousands of trucks have moved back and forth, it hasn’t got into Germany.

You would think that’s way greater risk than us taking it across the ocean. I heard a speaker recently make this observation. The world has foot and mouth disease, hog cholera and North America

Hog commentator Jim Long said pork is moving back to China. In a recent interview at Hog Days in Brandon Long said it started almost immediately right after the announcement by Prime Minister Trudeau that pork trade is getting back to normal.

Photo by Harry Siemens

hasn’t got it, so maybe we’ll be lucky. I don’t know. A pig must be exposed to it, directly exposed to it. It isn’t an aerosol.”

Long who travels the world said for the industry, in particular, the producers it is a very tough time. Producers are looking forward to seeing some better markets. “I expect we’ll see them soon. I think all projections show the killed numbers in North America are going to drop and the exports will increase,” he said. “Everything we send from North America to China goes into a black hole supportive to the rest of the markets. And the thing is; I think China will not be able to recover to any extent for a minimum of three years. After that, I don’t know. But they don’t have ASF under control and I don’t see how. They say there’s less ASF in China now, but of course, there are half as many pigs to get it, so it’s part of the equation.”

In his most recent weekly commentary, Long reflected on China and the United States agreeing to a phase 1 trade deal. The main

point for agriculture is China’s commitment to purchase $50 billion in agricultural products.

“To us, this means ramped up US pork sales for two main reasons. One, China has a pork shortfall due to ASF. To live up to a $50 billion commitment China will need diversified Ag products such as soybeans, chicken, beef and pork to reach that target. Pork is a logical choice. This in itself could put US Pork sales as a priority over other countries to meet the $50 billion commitment,” said Long. “To be blunt, the US has the ability with tariffs to ensure compliance of phase 1 agreement. Other country’s’ pork supply might not be as prioritized in the coming months. We expect that Phase 1 will be supportive of US hog markets now with upside potential.”

All in the industry are waiting for reality in China. It appears to be happening with pork exports at record levels and a new trade agreement that seems to commit China to purchase more US pork, he added.

Beef Producers Take Aim for 2020

By Les Kletke Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) has a lot on their plate for 2020. While the production cycle will begin with calving soon there is a lot going on in the boardroom as well.

The Agricultural Crown Lands issue will continue for the association and it is concerned about securing the first rights of renewal for existing lease holds who meet the terms of the program. It would also like to see a longer transition to the higher rental rates. MBP also takes issue with the way the rules

are applied to family transfers and the length of the lease. The Association plans to meet with officials about recent lease auctions and if changes need to be made to that system.

Tom Friesen is a producer that has long used the leased land for his operation and counts on it being a part of his feed program. “With the changes and looking on turning the business over to the next generation we have to know if we will have access to the land and at what cost,” he said. “We have counted on the crown land for almost 20

years and it is a part of the basis for our herd.”

He said there is enough uncertainty in the business without having to wonder if you will have pasture for the next year.

“Building a herd is a long term commitment and you purchase equipment and build you handling systems accordingly,” he said. “We need to know that we will have that land base. In a year like this past one the weather took its toll on feed supplies and it was tough enough with the pasture we had.”

“As an organization, MBP was active on a number of files in 2019, such as the Agriculture

Crown Lands Leasing Program, the effects of the drought and challenging production conditions, changes to animal transportation and the livestock predation file. We will continue those efforts,” said MBP President Tom Teichroeb.

MBP will continue its advocacy with both the Federal and Provincial governments to make business risk management programs more responsive to the urgent needs of producers.

Looking further to the future the Association has a new program for young producers that will focus on succession planning and land acquisition.

December 27, 2019

With Less Resources and Increasing Urbanization Food Security is a Bigger Issue

By Les Kletke Jacob Shapiro, the Director of Analysis for Geopolitical Future had some good news for Canadian grain producers when he spoke at Grain World in Saskatoon Jacob Shapiro late last month.

The conference formerly held annually in Winnipeg has expanded not only its locality, its presentations are offering an outlook further into the future and the changes that will impact the grain trade for many years to come.

Formerly the Grain World’s event concentrated on the future year’s grain market.

Featuring key note speaker Shapiro, he pointed to 5 factors that he sees impacting the grain markets over the next several years. “The first is renewed strategy in competing for limited resources, the second is a maturing population followed by an increasing Indian population.

The Muslim civil war and the American-Victoria era, round out the top 5.”

He told the assembly that per capita productive land has been decreasing in the world since 1960 along with the increasing frequency and intensity of droughts. “That is good news for North American farmers where production has been increasing,” said Shapiro.

He said that the long term trend line favours North American farmers even more. “North America has 5-10 % of the world’s population and 50% of the world’s water. Asia is just the reverse with 60% of the population and only 9% of the water,” said Shapiro. “That speaks well for the production of North America.”

“World figures show that in the last 15 years China has given up 4 million hectares of productive land to urbanization, “ said Shapiro.

“And China is a country that does not have 5 million hectares to spare.”

Since 1960 over half of the world’s population has lived in urban centres and that has meant an increase in the amount of productive land that is lost to cities. In the next year the percentage of people in urban centres will reach 68%. “That amount of land has been lost in a country that is a dictatorship,” he said.

“The rate that land is being lost in democracies or free economies is far greater.”

He goes on to point out that the areas of Africa, the Middle East and Asia are currently the countries that purchase the most North American grain and, “They are the areas that are losing land the fastest.”

Shapiro was cautious in saying that the shortage of resources will not mean a windfall profit for farmers. Instead dwindling resources can bring about more drastic changes in world economies and attitudes. Under these tightening conditions, “A country begins to think about food security in different ways,” he noted.

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December 27, 2019

The AgriPost

Opinion Poll Has Farmers Among the Most Respected Professions Farmers are one of the groups Canadians respect the most, well ahead of government, unions and large companies, found a recent public opinion poll by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

Out of a ranking of 6 respect categories Farmers’ came in at number one above small businesses, governments, unions, large companies and banks. Despite this, they face significant competitive challenges that the FederalProvincial-Territorial (FPT) agriculture ministers must begin to address.

“Farmers make significant economic contributions to Canada and produce some of the safest and highest quality food in the world. It is not a surprise then that 96 per cent of everyday Canadians give top marks to farmers in terms of the groups they respect the most,” said Marilyn Braun-Pollon, CFIB’s vice-president of Western Canada and Agri-business.

CFIB’s latest Monthly Agriculture Business Barometer shows optimism in the agriculture sector is being weighed down by

recent trade disputes, difficult harvest conditions in many parts of the country and costly carbon taxes. In fact, CFIB’s Agriculture Index finished the month of November at 51.1 – 5 points below the national average.

“The reality is farmers have faced a lot of uncertainty this year with ongoing trade disputes and a challenging harvest which has really muted their outlook for the year ahead,” explained Braun-Pollon.

CFIB recently sent a letter to Marie-Claude Bibeau congratulating her on her re-appointment as Minister of Agriculture & Agri-Food and outlined the policies needed that will ensure Canadian agri-businesses succeed.

CFIB Farm Members’ Policy Priorities to Improve their Overall Competitiveness: Federal Carbon Tax: Exemptions for farmers should be extended to include natural gas and propane that is used for drying grain and heating poultry or dairy facilities.

Trade and Export: All FPT governments need to focus on improving market access

for Canadian agricultural products.

Regulation and Paper Burden: All levels of government need to continue to reduce the burden of red tape on farmers so they have more time to grow and expand their business.

Business Risk Management (BRM) programs: Ensure programs are transparent, timely and predictable.

Intergenerational Farm Transfer: Make it easier for farmers and all small businesses to transfer or sell their business to a family member.

“Business succession is an urgent issue across the country. We are calling on the federal government to make it easier for all small businesses, including farmers, to sell their business to their children or other family members.

There also must be a concerted effort by all levels of government to create the conditions for farmers to grow and expand,” concluded Braun-Pollon.

Keep it Clean’s Five Simple Tips to Keep Your Crops Ready for Market From seed selection to delivery, the choices made along the way can impact market access for Canadian canola, cereals and pulses. To help growers make some of those decisions, Keep it Clean! has put together a handy reference guide called 5 Simple Tips.

Covering every stage of crop production, the 5 Simple Tips guide provides growers with practical advice to reduce pesticide residues and traces of disease, ensuring their crops comply with set maximum residue limits (MRLs).

Growers can help maintain Canada’s reputation as a supplier of high-quality canola, cereals and pulses by keeping market access top of mind and following these 5 Simple Tips: - Tip 1: Use Acceptable

Pesticides Only – Only apply pesticides that are both registered for use on your crop in Canada and won’t create trade concerns.

- Tip 2: Always Read and Follow the Label – Applying pesticides or desiccants without following label directions may result in unacceptable residues.

- Tip 3: Grow DiseaseResistant Varieties and Use Practices That Reduce Infection – Crop diseases like blackleg in canola and fusarium head blight (FHB) in cereals can cause yield and quality losses, impact profitability and may create a market risk.

- Tip 4: Store Your Crop Properly – Proper storage helps to maintain crop quality and keeps the bulk free of harmful cross contaminants.

- Tip 5: Deliver What You

Declare – When you sign the mandatory Declaration of Eligibility affidavit at the elevator, you are making a legal assertion that your crop is the variety and/or class you have designated.

When growers consider market access at all points in the growing season and take the necessary steps to grow a market-ready crop, they can protect their own investments and help keep markets open for all.

We all play a role in keeping markets open for Canadian canola, cereals and pulses.

Please visit keepingitclean.ca to learn more about the 5 Simple Tips and to access useful resources for growers, agri-retailers and agronomists.

Canada’s Best Bet is on India

By Les Kletke The co-author of “Empty Planet” said that Canada’s best bet for future exports is India followed by the US. He put a condition on the US being a good choice target for future exports depending on the political situation and whether the current approach to imports in that country is a long term one or just a blip.

John Ibbitson was one of the keynote speakers at Grain World last month speaking extensively about the decline in world population and about the book that he co-authored the “Empty Planet”. The book takes a serious look at the slowing growth in world population. He points to the key factor of urbanization as to why the birth rate has slowed to less than replacement in many countries.

Ibbitson said that in 2007 half of the earth’s population lived in urban centres for the first time, and today that number is 55%. He said there are four major factors that contribute to the slowing of population grow when people move to cities.

The first is that children become a liability rather than an asset. “They are no longer another set of hands to help with tasks on the farm, and they now need care which comes at a cost,” he said.

The next reason is that women have access to education. “As they become educated they want a greater say in the control of their lives and their bodies.

When the move to the city they have access to schools, to wifi and to other women.

That changes their attitude,” said Ibbitson.

Thirdly, traditions are not as powerful. “They become less powerful and are not as subordinate. Most religions call for women to be subordinate and stay in the home and raise many children.

That is not the case when they have other influences and are more educated,” he said.

The fourth reason is that the clan has less of an impact. “They now have more influence from their coworkers. When was the last time your co-worker told you to have a baby and stay home?”

John Ibbitson

Ibbitson said the world is in the low fertility trap where populations decline and once it starts it is an almost impossible trend to reverse. He said the trend has been similar in the US since the 1800s and has continued through the 1900s. “What is saving the US is the immigration of a million people a year and we don’t know if that will continue,” he said.

He said the changing world demographics are something to be considered when targeting a future market for agricultural products and that India is in a stage where population will continue to grow with a young expanding group of consumers; that could be good for Canada.”

An Adequate Cereal Seed Supply

By Les Kletke Despite challenging conditions of 2019’s weather, producers should have an adequate supply of cereal seed for 2020 according to Tom Penner who produces pedigree seed at Gladstone even though the drought of August took more of a toll than the wet conditions later in the fall.

“Most of the pedigree seed production was off by the time the wet conditions hit,” he said. “The wet fall may have had an impact of soybean seed production but for the cereals we were done harvest by that time.”

He did acknowledge that the weather reduced yields and that it will be tough to sell a variety on the yields of 2019. “I won’t be bragging about what a variety did in the trials this past year,” he said with a chuckle. “We have had a couple of pretty good years and this one was

definitely below what we have come to expect.”

Penner’s commercial production did take a hit due to drought, more than his pedigree seed did. “There are probably a couple of reasons for that,” he said.

“First we believe in the value of pedigree seed being a strong plant but also we typically put our pedigree production on our better land and in a year like this any bit of a difference is magnified in the yield.”

He produces both wheat and barley for pedigree seed sales as well as commercial cereals and canola and soybeans. “We had the cereals off by the time the rains hit but we did struggle to get the soybeans off as they did in most areas of the province,” said Penner.

“We don’t have any soybean seed production but I would be concerned about the quality of that crop

coming off.”

Penner said that while yields are below average there should still be good supplies available for producers. “It is always a bit of a guessing game on varieties and how many acres to plant and we typically plant a bit more that we think we will need,” he said. “That is for years like this when yields are below average or what they have been for the past couple of years.”

Some years the gamble does not pay off though and he incurs the expense of producing pedigree seed that finds its way into the commercial market.

“There are a lot of years that some seed ends up getting dumped at the elevator because it did not sell, and we know that, but years like this, those extra acres might prove valuable and we will sell that production as seed.”

The AgriPost

December 27, 2019

11

North American Pork to Capitalize on Worldwide ASF

By Harry Siemens For 2020 the Chair of Manitoba Pork is looking forward to an end to the trade war between the United States and China that has depressed Canadian live hog prices. Heading into the new year, live hog prices and disease management will be top of mind among Manitoba’s pork producers.

George Matheson, the Chair of Manitoba Pork, said 2019 looked to be a good year but turned out to be disappointing with the average price for the year lower than expected. “Pork producers pretty much right across Canada take the US national price as their price,” said Matheson.

“What happens between the US producers and their trading partners is most significant to Canadian producers in regards to price. Unfortunately, we saw a tariff war between China and the US and Manitoba suffered collateral damage. Without that tariff war, our prices would be much higher due to African Swine Fever creating a significant worldwide shortage of pork.”

Matheson said, except for a strong second quarter, pig prices are a significant disappointment for producers in 2019 with current December prices lower than a year ago. “But all is not gloom and doom! New feeder pig and sow spaces are increasing in the province, with assistance from Manitoba Pork’s Swine Infrastructure Development Corporation,” he said. “There’s a renewed sense of cooperation between processors and producers. Both sectors are working together for the maximum benefit of each other.”

While ASF continues its devastating movement across the globe North America has successfully kept it at bay. “Nonetheless, Manitoba Pork continues to work on our Emergency Response Plan in case this deadly scourge does reach Canada. We are planning for the worst and hoping for the best. Manitoba is prepar-

ing to deal with the infection while continuing to work to keep it out of the country,” said Matheson.

He sees a real disappointment with the number of PED cases in Manitoba for 2019 which rose above that of 2017, creating a challenge, and he suggested a different approach to eradicate the infection. “We thought we had PED under control and on the road to eradication, yet it returned with a vengeance in 2019. We need a different approach if we are to have any hope of putting an end to this dreadful disease in Manitoba,” he said.

“Among other initiatives, Manitoba Pork continues to work closely with the CFIA to make the Hog Transporter Program a reality.

This important project will maximize biosecurity for livestock transport trailers returning from the US.” Matheson said it was an honour for Manitoba Pork to receive a philanthropy award this year for their supportive and charitable work in the community. “From generous donations of pork to helping with food service education programs and supporting healthy lifestyles, Manitoba Pork is proud to lend a hand to our community over the

Producers attending the annual Manitoba Pork producer meeting in Portage la Prairie.

years.”

In the US, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) applauded news of a mini trade deal with China and, during 2020, will press for unrestricted market access for US pork in China.

NPPC President David Herring told reporters in a teleconference that among its priorities will be gaining unrestricted market access to China to address its need for affordable pork and expanding the export of pork to other ASF affected countries.

“China represents an unparalleled opportunity for US pork producers to provide the highest quality and most affordable pork in the world. It’s no secret that China needs reliable, affordable sources of pork,” said Herring. “No source

George Matheson, the Chair of Manitoba Pork, said 2019 looked to be a good year but turned out to be disappointing with the average price for the year lower than expected.

Local Manitoba pork in the form of farmer sausage on Harry’s Photos by Harry Siemens grill.

is better positioned to meet this need than American hog farmers.”

According to Iowa State University Economist Dermot Hayes, if the US gained unrestricted access to the Chinese market, it would reduce the overall trade deficit with China by nearly six percent. Also, generate 184 thousand new US jobs and

produce 24 and a half billion in new sales all in the next decade, he said.

Additionally, with ASF spreading in many parts of Asia, NPPC hopes to expand export opportunities in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and other countries.

Herring stressed that pork is the preferred protein in

these countries and growth opportunities for US pork are significant.

According to Matheson in Manitoba, the same opportunity exists for local producers, except for the current price structure that is tied to the US pork industry. He would like to see prices less dependent on the US market price.

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December 27, 2019

The AgriPost

The AgriPost

December 27, 2019

21

Timing of China’s Pork Demand Creates Uncertainty for 2020

While in Japan Andrew Dickson, Manitoba Pork GM was approached by buyers seeking assurance that Canadian Pork supply will be consistent and at a level needed to meet Japanese consumer demand.

By Harry Siemens At the recent Hog Days in Brandon, Andrew Dickson, General Manager of the Manitoba Pork Council, spoke about several good things he expects to happen going forward in 2020.

Dickson said the Canadian dollar hovering around 76 cents means that hogs producers selling based on US formulas, provides some reasonable prices throughout the year.

“With some highs and lows in 2019, going into 2020, we see a similar picture. It looks as though you can lock in some profits for 2020. There is uncertainty because of what’s going to happen with China because they’re so short of pork. At some point they’re going to enter into the world meat industry and absorb a lot of meat exports. And we’re not sure how that’s all going to work out, but that’s what we see happening,” he said.

Producers with barns and facilities that have not seen any major upgrades over

the last 30 to 50 years are starting to think seriously about replacing those barns.

“When you want to borrow money, it’s good to have a cash flow that’s positive and it shows that you can service the debt for the first two or three years, and you can bring a positive picture to your banker, your lending institution. And so we’ve got several producers looking at making significant investments back in their farm operations,” said Dickson. “We may not see a big expansion, but we’ll see new barns going up, and there’ll be some increase in numbers. The processing plant in Brandon definitely needs more pigs. The plant at Neepawa is receiving more pigs from their operations, so we’re going into a good year.”

With producers wanting to replace existing and ageing facilities, they still need to go through the permitting process, and Manitoba Pork is right at the front of that process. “For example, there’s a proposal that’s

having its conditional use hearing first week of January. But that’s the result of a year’s work getting ready to that point. And we know there are three or four proposals that are working their way slowly through the system in terms of preparing themselves to go to council for starting the application process, the approval process for their barns,” said Dickson.

“We do advise producers, though, that the municipal approval process and the provincial approval process take a significant amount of time, and it’s difficult to speed it up in any way.

And it’s not that people are against developments, it’s just that there are certain procedures in place that take time, and we have no choices in those matters at this moment in time.”

With China accepting pork from Canada since shutting that business down last June, Dickson said sales are starting to pick up again. “I was in Japan about four weeks ago at a

major event at the Canadian Embassy organized

by Canadian Pork International with 400 people in the room, essentially Japanese pork buyers,” Dickson said.

“The Japanese buyers are quite concerned that we would be capable of supplying the product. It wasn’t so much price, realizing they will pay more, especially if the Chinese become major actors in the world market.

But their biggest concern is that we continue to be reliable suppliers to them because they’ve built their business model on buying Canadian pork.”

As many international players have said, any pork that goes to China right now disappears into the bottomless black hole. First, the Chinese depend on pork for 80 per cent of their protein intake, and they eat more pork in a week than Canada produces in a year. As Jim Long, hog commentator said it is now a total food issue, not only a pork issue in China.

Andrew Dickson, Manitoba Pork GM said the Canadian dollar hovering around 76 cents means reasonable payment for hogs producers selling based on US formulas throughout the year.

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December 27, 2019

North American Fertilizer Industry Supports CUSMA Deal Fertilizer Canada and The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) welcomed the recent announcement of a bipartisan agreement on the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

This agreement, once ratified, will protect the interests of farm customers across North America who depend on cost-effective fertilizer products through an integrated supply chain within Canadian, American and Mexican markets.

Both Fertilizer Canada and TFI urge the swift passage of CUSMA by the Canadian House of Commons and Senate, as well as the US House of Representatives and Senate. Ratification of the agreement will strengthen existing trading relationships by expanding market access for additional products, eliminating certain export penalties and market restrictions on products, and enhancing innovation by encouraging international cooperation on agricultural biotechnology.

“Canada’s fertilizer industry has benefitted from the stability and certainty of trade agreements,” said Garth Whyte, President and CEO of Fertilizer Canada. “Access to the US and Mexico markets have contributed to growth and modernization of Canadian fertilizer production.

Conversely, Canadian agri-retailers and farmers have benefited from access to quality United States fertilizer products. Continued access to free and fair markets will ensure a strong agricultural industry in North America.”

“Mexico and Canada are two of the United States’ biggest trading partners and together import over 60% of US agricultural goods,” said Lara Moody, Vice President of Stewardship and Sustainability at TFI. “Our nation’s growers depend on free and fair access to markets to be able to compete on the global stage. The USMCA will ensure that markets with our strongest trading partners remain open and fair.”

The fertilizer industry faces strong competition for investment globally and CUSMA is an essential component in maintaining favorable economic conditions, contributing to the industry’s continued success in the years to come.

CFA Pleased with the Final CUSMA Deal The Canadian Federation of Agriculture is pleased with the agreement by Canada, the US and Mexico to sign an amended version of the new North American free trade deal in Mexico City. Canadian farmers have been facing many challenges over the last two years and the lack of a renewed NAFTA only added to these stresses.

The signed agreement provides more stability with our largest trading partners. It is the hope of the CFA that the renegotiated pact can finally be ratified and provide greater opportunities. NAFTA and now CUSMA play a significant role in the integrated supply chain and speedy ratification is needed to re-establish market certainty.

“CFA calls on all federal parties to quickly ratify the amended CUSMA. However, the CFA also reminds all parties that the concessions made by Canada for supply-managed products will once again negatively impact farmers in these sectors. The government needs to ensure that programs will be introduced to mitigate these loss of markets, and that it doesn’t concede any more market access in any future trade agreements,” said Keith Currie, 1st Vice-President, CFA. “Furthermore, Canada agreed to place a world-wide cap on exports of certain dairy products in the CUSMA, which is unprecedented in regional trade agreements. As the nation’s prosperity depends on reliable access to global markets, Canada must not agree to this kind of provision in any future trade agreement,” added Currie.

The CFA wants to ensure our government recognizes the critical importance that Canadian agriculture plays in our Canadian economy, which contributes over $143 billion to Canada’s GDP. Trade agreements that impact food production and specific agricultural sectors need to reflect how our government will position Canadian agriculture for future growth.

The AgriPost

Agriculture Looks to Gain by the Revamped USMCA

By Harry Siemens Colin Robertson, the Vice President and a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, acknowledges, because of several changes to the United States-MexicoCanada Agreement, the amended deal will need approval by the governments in all three countries.

He expects all three countries to ratify it by late spring or early summer, 2020. With the support of the Democratic Caucus in the US House of Representatives, they reached an agreement that will move forward US ratification of the United StatesMexico-Canada Agreement.

The modified USMCA could get approval by the House by year’s end before moving on to the Senate, where they will deal with it in January-February and then on to the President.

“In Mexico, they ratified it earlier and the President signed off on the legislation earlier this year but, because this results in a significant change to that which the Mexicans passed, they too will have to pass amendments to the legislation they passed earlier this year,” said Robertson. “The Canadian Parliament introduced legislation based on the original NAFTA in June but, because we have a new Par-

liament, we need to re-introduce the legislation in any event. Now they will most likely introduce legislation at the end of January or early February and consider it in our minority Parliament.”

He senses that it will pass quickly in the Canada because almost all of the Premiers are on side with the trade Agreement, and there are enough Liberals and Conservatives who see this as being advantageous.

Robertson is not sure where the Greens or the NDP will stand. According to Robertson he said the NDP will likely vote against it as they have for other trade agreements and the Bloc he is unsure where they will be.

He feels that all three countries would ratify the agreement by early spring to early summer, at which point it will replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement.

The National Pork Producers Council in the US is applauding a deal that will move ratification of the USMCA forward in Congress and is calling for a vote before the end of this year.

Jim Monroe, the Assistant Vice President of Communications with the NPPC, said the USMCA ratification continues to be a primary objective for them. “Mexico

and Canada took about 40 percent of total US pork exports last year, and they’re at a similar pace this year, so these markets are essential for US pork producers and their livelihoods,” said Monroe. “News that Democrats and the Administration have ironed out an agreement and our trading partners appear to be good with that is excellent news.

I think it demonstrates that the administration and Congress can work together in a bipartisan fashion and do trade deals.”

He said it’s crucial to preserve zero tariffs on pork trade in North America. It also demonstrates to other trading partners that the administration, working with Congress, can get these deals done. That is good news for US pork producers and American agriculture overall he said. “It gets us one step closer, and we’re going to continue to push for a vote in Congress this year.”

Robertson said ratification of the USMCA should restore the confidence of investors in Canada as well.

“It is significant because we had created a North American platform allowing for freer trade. Because we have energy, a highly educated workforce, and a big market

of 500 million people,” said Robertson. “When you look at North America in comparison to some of the other trading blocks, the European Union for example or what’s coming together in China, and parts of Asia, we are highly competitive because we have the vital ingredients and the workforce and market size.”

He said this is positive for both North American and foreign investors as investments are what create jobs, and the assurance to invest once again in North America. “I think Canada has a particularly advantageous position because we have freer trade agreements now with the European Union and with the leading countries in the Pacific, notably Japan, and that’s something the US doesn’t have,” said Robertson. “Certainly, over the last two years, there had been a real fall-off in investments both by Canadians in Canada and by foreign investors in Canada.”

Robertson said this should give those concerned about Canada’s continued access to the biggest market in the world, the US, that investing in Canada is something they can do with some assurance that their products will sell under freer trade conditions into the US.

An American Perspective on USMCA

By Harry Siemens The US House of Representatives voted in favour of a new trade deal for North America recently. Here is an American perspective.

Nelson Dong is a senior partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney, and head of the national security group and co-head of the Asia group.

He is a current member of the Board of Directors of the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR) and a current member of the Board of Directors of the Washington State China Relations Council (WSCRC).

He follows the issue trade relations closely. “The overwhelming bipartisan vote in the House to pass the USMexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as modified to satisfy the final concerns of American organized labour, business, and agriculture interests is a tremendous

political achievement,” said Dong. “The US Senate indicated it would defer any vote until after the President’s impeachment trial concludes. But Senate passage now seems all but certain, given how much White House support the USMCA has and the Republican majority in the Senate and its historical support for fair trade.”

He said since Mexico’s Senate has already ratified the USMCA and the lastminute tinkering with its terms to gain House approval probably will not have to be re-voted in Mexico, that would leave only Canada’s legislative stamp of approval before USMCA is ready to enter into force.

“The US business and agricultural communities will now all breathe a collective sigh of relief when all this uncertainty and drama are finally behind them,” said Dong. “While never

viewed as a ‘perfect’ deal, most elements of the existing NAFTA and its side arrangements have served all three nations well for a quarter-century since coming into effect on January 1, 1994. Under NAFTA, Canada and Mexico became the two major trading partners of the U.S. Literally, thousands and thousands of complex supply chains now extend across the US northern and southern borders, supporting, directly and indirectly, millions of jobs in all three nations.”

Dong said USMCA would give some much needed and long-deferred updating to NAFTA to deal with internet-based commerce, digital technology, and intellectual property issues.

Also, it provides added consideration of labour and environmental protection and may even slow (but will not stop) the outflow of some US manufacturing jobs.

Fortunately for most businesses in the US, populist political rhetoric notwithstanding, USMCA is not a wholesale replacement of NAFTA. But slightly more of organic evolution and extension, building upon many proven features in NAFTA through 25 years of experience as beneficial and productive for trade among the three-member country participants.

“Business generally favours stability and predictability rather than traumatic and abrupt changes in the regulatory environment and, wisely, the negotiators and, now, hopefully, the legislators as well, for the three nations appear to understand the need for that kind of continuity. If USMCA were not approved and if the US had chosen to exit NAFTA, the economic chaos across North America would be too painful to contemplate,” Dong said.

The AgriPost

December 27, 2019

23

Deerboine Colony Takes First Prize in Brandon

By Harry Siemens Out of a record 42 “best of the best” hog carcasses entered in the Pork Quality Competition at the Brandon Hog & Livestock Show December 11, Deerboine Colony located 20 miles west of Brandon walked away with the Grand Champion trophy and a cash prize of $5,000.

Barrickman Colony came in second, taking home $3,000, while Aspenheim Colony came in third with a $2,000 prize. The pork from these three entries went to Samaritan House in Brandon.

Michael Wurtz is the Hog Boss at the Deerboine Colony, the Grand Champion trophy holders for 2019. The judge of this year’s competition, Dr. Bob McKay, expressed how the pork quality had improved since the last competition in Brandon two years ago. Still, Wurtz said they were not doing anything different other than the best they can do. “No, the pigs are doing what they’ve always done. We try and ship heavier pigs now. Maybe, I haven’t seen the sheet yet, I don’t know what their weight was, but that’s about all we’re doing. It’s the same program, the same genetics, and the same grains that we raise ourselves,” he said.

“We have an 800 sow set up, but we don’t quite finish

everything. About two-thirds of our production goes to Maple Leaf, and the rest we sell as we can.”

Wurtz said as a team they did not expect to win first prize. “We try and participate and have fun. We’ve done fairly well in the past, were in some of the top 10 lists. But this, it was a good feeling, too,” Wutz said.

“But don’t put a lot of sweat into the picking of the right hog; just whatever we feel looks good.”

The judge of the 2019 Brandon Hog and Livestock Show Pork Quality Competition said back in 2017 at the last competition, colour, marbling and texture are the three significant factors that influence the desirability of pork.

From the podium Dr. McKay mentioned that this year things have changed as far as the meat quality since the last competition two years ago. “Well, our colour score is dropped from a Minolta score over near 52, which is borderline pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) down to 47, which is in the sweet spot for colour in this country.

Our marbling is increased, which is an excellent thing,” said McKay. “Even though producers get paid for colour and marbling, we export our pork, and if the people that

buy it don’t like the colour and don’t like the marbling, we don’t have an industry.

The other thing that’s good is our fat depth has gone up a bit. Our Loin depth just dipped a little bit, but it’s not that bad. And we’re hitting the sweet spot for the index.

Our indexes are actually going up. So what the producers are getting paid is actually a little increased. It’s a good step in the right direction.”

Dr. McKay said the industry still has more work to do, but the beauty of this Carcass show is the evaluation of all the carcasses and producers get an idea of where their carcasses fit. “I think maybe people paid attention to what I said in 2017, when I said, ‘Take a look at the sheets.

The people that finished ahead of you find out where they got their breeding stock from and go and get breeding stock from those people,’ and hopefully, that’s what they’re doing.”

As he said in 2017, when it comes to the consumer, there is a difference between tasting and looking. “We did a study years ago where we looked at the meat and put it in the display case. And people shied away from marbling, they shied away from the darker pork,” said Dr. McKay. “They went to lighter pork because they thought

Out of a record 42 “best of the best” hog carcasses entered in the Pork Quality Competition at the Brandon Hog & Livestock Show December 11 Deerboine Colony walked away with the Grand Champion trophy and a cash prize of $5,000.

Producers watching the competition announcements.

it was from a younger animal, darker pork was from an older animal, and they didn’t want the fat from the marbling. But when we had these people evaluate the meat by

cooking it and eating it, they all liked the darker pork; they all loved the marbled pork.

And that’s what we’ve got to look at. You know, we’re so conditioned that we don’t

want to eat fat that we cut our throats, in a way, because we’re not eating the proper meat and we’re not looking at what we’re supposed to be buying.”

Lessons Learned from Medical Done by Christmas Digitization and Connectivity

By Les Kletke Agriculture is where the medical field was 10 years ago when it comes to digitization.

“We have learned a lot from the transition in the medical field and there are a lot of things that can be applied to agriculture,” said Neil Van Seters director of strategy at Telus. “When we talk to farmers we find the biggest problem is connectivity,” he said. “They complain they just do not have access and that is where the medical field was 10 years ago, doctors were not connected.”

He said connectivity and the ability to share information is where agriculture needs to evolve. “Most of us remember a wall of paper charts behind your doctor a decade ago,” he told the Grain World conference goers in Saskatoon. “Patients were demanding that doctors be connected; they did not want to have to carry the x-

ray folder with them. They wanted their information to be available to the correct people.”

He said this similar situation exists in agriculture today. “There are sensors getting data on everything but it is not being shared and cannot be used to make business decisions,” said Van Seters.

“We need to develop systems to share this information and get it to the right people.”

Another similarity between medicine and agriculture is the firms involved. “In many cases it is the same companies that were involved in the medical field that are producing the inputs for agriculture.

They know the process and we can use what we learned from medicine to avoid some of the pitfalls, as doctors are providing better care, farmers can do a better job of facing the challenges ahead.”

While some speakers at the conference spoke of declining populations, Van Seters

Neil Van Setters

did not buy into these theories. “We are on the verge of a global food crisis with a decreasing land base,” he said. “We are facing increased regulations from regulatory bodies and we have smart technologies that do not have a practical application.”

He likened it to the Fitbit of a few years ago that provided a great deal of information that was not connected to each other providing little more than interesting data. “Similar to health care of a decade ago our costs are spiraling and we need to make better decisions as the information is shared with the right people,” said Van Seters.

By Les Kletke Don Peters was chuckling as he said that he was glad to be finished harvest in time for Christmas. He admitted that it was not something that he thought about when he planted his field of corn south of Steinbach. “We know that corn is a late crop,” he joked. “But we weren’t thinking the week before Christmas, but that is the way the year went.”

He said it was difficult to put an estimate on the yield because yield varied greatly on his acreage and he was not able to harvest the entire field.

Some snow had drifted into the headlands and he was not able to get at it with the combine.

“Yields are down from last year, but we knew we took the hit in August when things dried up,” said Peters. “Though it did get off to a good start and we were supersized at what it did yield.”

Peters said that the drought last year took a greater toll on his corn crop as the dry conditions hit earlier and more severely. “We would have been close to an average crop if we had been able to harvest in normal conditions,” he continued. “But this delayed harvest by a couple of months and the wet weather in September took its toll. We did lose some.”

He did acknowledge that the frost would help somewhat with drying the crop. “The cold temperatures have helped to dry things up a bit, but certainly not to the point we would wish for this as a drying practice,” said Peters.

The quality of the crop was relativity good and colour was excellent despite having stayed in the field nearly 3 months longer than normal. He said he does not usually get to harvest in late September but he has on occasion and this year it was late December.

Bushel weights were better than expected for the crop and while he was hesitant to put a number on it before samples of the entire field were taken he expected it to be just below normal. “Like with the yield, the quality of the crop varied tremendously through the field,” he said. “That was a result of the drought and the lower areas came through a lot better than the high areas where we lost the crop earlier.”

For now it is time for Christmas and a bit of relaxation before the new year and planning of the 2020 production cycle starts.

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The AgriPost

December 27, 2019

Hog Supply Pressuring Contract Prices

By Harry Siemens Tyler Fulton, who is the Director of Risk Management with Hams Marketing Services in Winnipeg,

MB, said overwhelmingly, the hog supply is pressuring the cash and futures markets, consequently depressing the forward prices that

Tyler Fulton, Director of Risk Management with Hams Marketing Services in Winnipeg, said overwhelmingly, the hog supply is pressuring the cash and futures markets.

western Canadian hog producers can contract.

Producers are dealing with lean hog futures that are the primary input into a forward contract price, which they convert into Canadian dollars. Since the US futures are under severe pressure, due to the record ample hog supplies, they are not seeing many opportunities that increase price to higher levels compared to five or six months ago.

Fulton said the main issue is the cash hog market and how many hogs there are which is adding pressure at a time when typically there is an increased positive price influence coming from increased exports.

However, Fulton recommended producers take a disciplined approach to forward pricing. Further to the concerns expressed, a com-

bination of record US hog production and the shortened Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday slaughter schedule is hurting a dramatic reduction in North American live hog prices. This pressure is occurring when typically and seasonally is the highest production time frame of the year.

“Forward prices have come down sharply in line with the cash market.

I expect to see some huge volatility, and so I would think that we will get a better opportunity to do some forward pricing into 2020,” he said.

“Several producers have some protection into that time frame that is at good profitable levels. To be fair we project to be profitable from April or May of 2020 and beyond.

So really it’s just about taking incremental increases in portions of your production and pricing them

at ever-increasing profitable levels. That means pricing 10 percent of your production at 10 percent higher than the current prices and then again the next ten percent at probably some increment higher than that and stay disciplined with that plan of adding protection as the prices improve.”

Fulton said the whole North American herd is taken up in China alone due to African Swine Fever and that overlooks the losses in Vietnam, the Philippines and other places. “We need to figure out every way possible to lower the barriers from the US and Canada into Asia to access some of that market to get a more equitable balance between the two continents, producers and packers currently in North America,” said Fulton.

Hog producers attending the annual producer Hams Marketing Services meeting in Starbuck.

Photos by Harry Siemens

The AgriPost

The Suffolk Punch Has the Strength

Marvin Harder works 15 acres with his Suffolk Punch draft horses and gives wagon rides at local events. He says the breed is powerful and easy to work with.

By Les Kletke Marvin Harder used to drive Belgian horses but had the opportunity to switch to Suffolk Punches and is glad he did.

“I liked the Belgians but after a few years of working with the Suffolk I think their personality is better, easier to work with,” he said.

It is not only the personality of the horses he likes, it is also the composition and their strength.

“They are a shorter heavier hose and they have the strength,” he said. “When I work them in the field they are a strong horse.

They are not as leggy as some breeds and that gives them the strength.”

He said there has been a movement in recent years to develop more of a show horse and that has meant breeders have chosen studs to yield a taller horse. The true height of the breed is somewhere between 15 and 16.5 hands but he said

a pair of colts that he bought grew to be 17.2 hands. “It gets a little harder to put the hames on them when they are that tall,” he said. “It is nice to work with a shorter horse that can pull.”

He uses his horses to work about 15 acres of land. When discing it is a full load and the strength is appreciated. “I work them for about 4 hours give them a break and another 4 hours is enough for the day,” he said.

He has 4 Suffolk Punch horses, 3 geldings and a mare that came off of a PMU line when her productive days were done. She is 15-years old and he plans on working with her as long as he can because of the cost of replacement. “The colts are now bringing $3,000 to $3,500 so it would be pretty expensive to replace her, I will just keep working with her as long as I can,” he said. Harder has trained his own horses. This past year

he added on new one. “I just put him in the team and he walked along with the other horses like he belongs there,” said Harder who bought his other horses when they were halter broke and trained them to work in harness. He not only uses his horse team to work his 15 acres, the horses give rides at local events such as at the Richer or Lorette Schools.

Harder has 70 acres south of Steinbach, working a portion of his acres with his team of horses and sells hay from the remaining acres. When he is not working with the horses he is a bus driver and butcher.

A heavy-draught, chestnut coloured horse, the purebred Suffolk Punch is Britain’s oldest native breed and is now critically endangered and at risk of disappearing altogether with an estimated 300 to 500 horses remaining in the country.

December 27, 2019

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Canada’s Crop Production Steady

By Elmer Heinrichs Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in its December outlook, released its final survey-based production estimates for 2019 incorporating the results from Statistics Canada’s November farm survey.

It noted that the 2019 crop year was difficult for many farmers as overly dry conditions in parts of western Canada persisted well into the growing season and in eastern Canada, heavy rain, coupled with colder than normal temperatures made planting conditions difficult early in the crop year.

At the time of harvest, higher than average precipitation across Canada, including excessive early snow in the Prairies, slowed harvest for many farmers and resulted in some unharvested crops remaining in the fields over the winter.

Averaged over all crops, average yields are slightly higher than the average for 2018-19 but the general quality of the crop is notably lower due to wet conditions during harvest.

The production of all field crops is estimated at 93.3 million tonnes (Mt), unchanged from last year, as higher production of pulses and special crops offset lower production of grains and oilseeds.

The Outlook says imports of grains and oilseeds are expected to decrease due to lower imports of corn into western Canada attributable to higher domestic barley production. Exports of grains and oilseeds are also forecast to decrease due to lower exports of wheat ex-durum and soybeans.

Looking ahead to 2020-21, the outlook suggests Canada’s winter wheat area, seeded in the fall of 2019, increased by 17 per cent from 2019-20 to 636,500 hectares.

Ontario accounted for 74 per cent of the winter wheat acres, with western Canada, growing about 21 per cent.

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December 27, 2019

Imagine Growing All Your Food with Only a Hoe

By Joan Airey Colleen Dyck went over to Kenya with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to see firsthand how women farm and to make a documentary on life during the third year in a row where hunger is increasing globally.

She spent sixteen days in Kenya, taking a day in Nairobi to get acclimatized. Then she worked for eight days side by side with Lucy Anyango who farms in Busia, in the western region of Kenya, on just under two acres of land. Her husband Jonathan lives and works in Nairobi and only visits a few times per year while she lives on the farm with her five children ages three to seventeen. Through a Foodgrains Bank Conservation Agriculture (CA) supported project, Lucy learned conservation agriculture techniques to increase her crop production. She has become a CA trainer and shares these techniques with others in her community through a group called a Chama.

Lucy trains other women on how to use these improved methods of raising food. Christine Anyango is Lucy’s fellow trainer. She is a member of the peer group of twenty CA trainers. Each member of the group has their own Chama of fifteen to twenty members. Collectively these men and women spread the word of their trainings, modelling new approaches to business, farming and household distribution of labour.

Members of the Chama, a Kiswahili word meaning organization meet once a month to socialize, learn CA techniques, and make small deposits into the group savings account. Members can take loans to pay for school fees, pay for household necessities or invest in their own farms and businesses.

Conservation agriculture is a farming approach that uses minimal soil disturbance, crop rotation and cover crops to improve soil health. This change in farming practices means more food for the family. This has taught Lucy how to transform her small farm into land she can rely on to produce crops to sell and eat despite erratic weather patterns. She saves seeds to plant future crops and increases the number of nutritious vegetables to meet her family’s needs. She shares her knowledge with other women to boost their capacity to adapt to the changing climate and to also produce food for their families.

“While on the farm I hoed right along with Lucy and learned to carry water on my head as Lucy does every day to meet the needs of her family for drinking, cooking and washing,” said Dyck.

Dyck farms at Niverville together with her husband and her four children ages eight to sixteen growing grain and oil seeds. She is also CEO of her own all-natural energy bar company.

“Lucy’s husband went to the market and bought spices so Colleen could cook some tasty meals. This is something that men don’t do is go to the market in Kenya and he was questioned in a critical way why he would do so by other men,” recounted Dyck on how some traditions are slowly changing. Attendees at the Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference also asked how the men who all work most of the year in the cities get money to their wives if they need to they were surprised to learn it was via a transfer by cell phone.

She said that a cell phone is very reasonable in Kenya where even a poor farmer like Lucy has one to do her banking since cell service is excellent there.

After eight days on the farm Dyck returned to Nairobi for debriefing and the long journey home.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a partnership of fifteen churches and church based agencies working together to end global hunger. Their vision is a world without hunger. In the 2018-19 budget year the Foodgrains Bank provided $40 million of assistance for 837,000 people in 36 countries.

Lucy and Colleen going to work.

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Choline Increases Milk Production in Early Lactation Dairy Cows Choline is an essential vitamin for dairy cows. However, it’s an oddity when it comes to dairy nutrition.

That’s because there is no actual established choline requirement for lactating dairy cows, and it doesn’t act like your typical vitamin. Yet, ruminant nutritionists have proven that choline plays an important role in body conditioning of pre-calving cows and early lactation cow metabolism. Despite these quirky features, dairy producers should take a look at dietary choline for their dairy cows to promote their good health and milk performance.

Classified as a water-soluble Bvitamin (B4), after niacin (B3), choline’s biology in dairy cows differs. On one hand, most B-vitamins act like the “on” light-switch of specialized enzymes in many energy-yielding biochemical reactions, where choline on the other hand isn’t part of any particular enzyme or enzyme system.

It is naturally manufactured (from the amino acid, methionine) within microscopic protozoa that colonize and live in the dairy cow’s rumen.

After microbial digestion takes place in cow’s small intestine, phosphorylcholine is released, and absorbed, which meets the cow’s apparent requirement for choline; thought to promote lipid (fat) transportation and metabolism throughout the cow’s entire body. Such a direct function in fat metabolism is said by dairy researchers to allow choline to play a pivotal role in preventing the ketosis and fatty liver in early lactation cows.

Their theory being - when dietary energy in their post-partum diet (encompassing carbohydrates and fats) is in short supply, the early lactating cow goes through a period of “negative energy balance”. This state of NEB forces the cow to mobilize her own back-fat in which non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs) are produced.

Under normal circumstances, most NEFAs are transformed into simple sugars in the cow’s liver and thus used as an energy source to support liver and other body functions as well as provide fatty acids for milkfat production in the cow’s udder.

When too many NEFAs are produced, a significant portion of them end up as poisonous ketone bodies that leads to toxic ketosis (reduced milk yield, reduced appetite, acetone breath, nervousness after calving). In association with ketosis, the liver also starts to reconfigure excess NEFAs into fat-triglycerides, which are stored and implicated in the development of fatty liver syndrome. For example, in a normal cow’s liver, the fat content should not exceed 2% (wet basis), but may rise to 10 to 15% just 48 hours after calving in severe fatty liver cases. Symptoms of such are similar to ketosis and mortality can be as high as 25%.

Fortunately, dietary choline may reduce the accumulation of NEFAs (and fat-accumulating triglycerides) in two ways. In the first manner, choline is thought to inhibit or slowdown the rate of fat mobilization from the cow’s back-fat.

Thereby, the supply of NEFA is produced from the adipose fat tissue and transported to the liver at a reduced, yet controlled rate. In the second way, choline may promote the transport of lipids in blood and processing within the liver, so there is a reduced accumulation of fats, particularly in the liver.

Such theories are difficult to test in the field, since feedstuff choline is almost 100% degraded by the rumen microbes (as mentioned a dairy cow gets its entire choline requirement from its resident rumen microbes). Luckily, a few experi-

ments have bypassed the rumen and studied the true nature of choline in dairy cows.

For example, in a 1989 University of Maryland study, the researchers infused choline directly into the small intestine of lactating dairy cows and had successfully exhibited a 1.9 kg per head per day increase in milk production, without any change to milk fat or milk-protein levels.

As a dairy nutritionist, I believe that similar benefits of feeding choline to dairy cows lies with feeding a commercial rumen-bypass choline product to close-up dry cows fed at 56 - 60 grams daily (to supply 15 grams of actual choline) starting at 21 days pre-partum until calving.

My objective for feeding it would also be to control the underlying dietary problems in pre-partum dairy cows that may lead to ketosis and fatty liver syndrome after they calve.

Aside from a few of these specialized close-up dry cow diets and some early lactation cow dietary packs, most dairy lactation diets are not routinely formulated with choline. Therefore, more study and testimonials on feeding choline to dairy cows are needed to maybe show more of its dietary benefits in dairy nutrition.

Early lactation cow.

Inaugural Protein Challenge Launched This spring, Manitoba entrepreneurs and businesses will have their first opportunity to compete in the inaugural Manitoba Protein Challenge said Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen.

“The Manitoba Protein Challenge will showcase the innovative products our local entrepreneurs and businesses are creating with animal and plant protein products,” said Pedersen. “This event will also help connect processors with retailers, food service and industry experts to introduce their products, learn about current protein industry trends and accelerate commer-

cialization of their products.”

The event is expected to bring together approximately 100 agriculture and food stakeholders, including key retailers and distributors in western Canada, who will sample and vote for their favorite protein products. The competition will include plant-based and animal-based protein categories.

The Manitoba Protein Challenge will provide Manitoba entrepreneurs an opportunity to fast track their products to commercialization through the competition, feedback and connections with key industry contacts. Participants must submit an application form that describes

their new protein product and market potential.

The application deadline is February 7, 2020, and the competition will be held on March 17 in Winnipeg during Agriculture Awareness Day in Manitoba.

The Manitoba Protein Challenge is one of many initiatives under the Manitoba Protein Advantage, a strategy to sustainably grow the plant and animal protein industry in Manitoba.

To apply for the Manitoba Protein Challenge or for more information, visit gov.mb.ca/agriculture/protein/industry-events-and-seminars.

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Review Your Grazing Standing Corn Program for Gestating Beef Cows

By Peter Vitti Beef cows tramping through the snow to graze standing corn has grown in popularity in the last few years. It’s a low-cost forage, which can make up a sizeable portion of a pregnant cow’s overwinter diet, because whole corn plants (with ears) can provide a significant amount of dietary energy and protein. Since, nutrient supplements may be required later-on as beef cows approach calving, producers might conduct a mid-winter review to assure their nutrient requirements are met until calving.

As a beef nutritionist, I find it amazing that corn plants that literarily have dried up and turned brown right before my eyes in the late-fall can be very nutritious for gestating beef cows. In any given year, the nutrient value of standing corn is high in dietary energy and similar in protein when compared to other common low-cost forages: It has been my experience that corn residue (second column) after grain corn harvest is very comparable to barley straw, so it makes sense to me that standing corn with a full ear of corn would be similar in nutrient value to an unharvested barley crop with whole kernels still in its head. Both of which, I have recommended to support the nutrient requirements of mid-gestation cows, namely 52 -55% TDN and 8 – 9 % crude protein fed on a daily basis for body maintenance, and to support an early-term fetus.

In comparison, late-gestation cows (re: 2 - 3 months prior to calving) require a higher plane of energy and protein nutrition; 55 - 60% TDN and 11- 12% crude protein, but now are responsible to support a late-term fetus and maintain an optimum body condition score of 2.75 (1 = emaciated, 5 = obese) by

Beef cows grazing corn 2019.

calving. It is widely accepted that corn grazing will take care of these energy needs, but it is still short on dietary protein, given that it contains only about 7 – 8% protein.

From my standpoint, there are many protein supplements available that help compliment a beef feeding program based on grazing corn. High protein (28%) distillers’ grains are widely available and can be used in alongside total mixed rations (TMR).

Many producers rely on commercial 18 - 30% protein range cubes/ pellets, made from the same distillers’ grains and other by products such as wheat-mids or canola meal.

If protein low-moisture molasses lick-tubs are to be used, I recommend that one 30% protein lowmolasses cattle lick-tub for every 25 beef cows to enhance the modest protein diet of grazed corn.

About a dozen of these cattle lick-tubs are purchased at a time by a beef producer that I often visit to protein/mineral supplement 300 white-faced red and black cows grazing 150 acres of cornfields in 5 x 30-acre paddocks for 100 days.

He also limits his cowherds’ grazing activity by moving an electric fence throughout each paddock. He allows his group of 300 beef cows to graze about 6 – 7 acres at a time

for about 7 – 10 days, before he moves the fence onto new ground.

In this way, he prevents acidosis upsets, since palatable ears are eaten first (2 - 3 days), then the leaves and stalks (2 - 3 days) and finally leftover stalks (3 days). At all times, a total mixed ration of corn silage, alfalfa hay and minerals are available outside the fenced-off cornfields and placed within access to automatic waterers.

My friend says that grazing corn is not an exact science. First, it has been his experience that after a few months, the feed quality of cornfields tends to degenerate. And second, as January/February weather becomes colder; the beef cows’ dietary energy requirement, just to stay warm increases by 2% for every 1C drop in temperature below 0°C. To remedy both concerns, he often drops fair-good quality hay bales among the corn rows.

His story is a testament of reviewing his grazing corn standing program for overwintering his beef cows, namely: 1. A good estimate of the carrying capacity of cornfields at all times.

2. Supplements the cornfield nutrition with extra dietary nutrients.

3. Reviews cow body condition.

Embracing these points yields healthy newborn calves at calving time.

Standing corn nutritional comparision chart.

Despite Challenges Growers Found a Way to Give Back

By Elmer Heinrichs Gordon Janzen, Foodgrains Bank regional representative in Manitoba said the Canadian Foodgrains Bank had almost 40 community projects in Manitoba which supported food programs through its 15 member agencies.

Most of these projects are growing projects producing a variety of crops. Overall those growing projects involve over 5,000 acres in the province.

It was a very dry growing season, said Janzen, adding that one of our CFGB farmers north of Winnipeg said this was the driest season in the

region since the “dirty 30s.” “The farmers had to cultivate and re-seed some of their corn and sunflowers because the germination was so poor.”

“The harvest season was incredibly wet since the beginning of September. However the early cereal harvest seemed pretty good despite the dry summer,” said Janzen. “But late harvest crops told another story.

As many of you know, the wet conditions were a real challenge, and some were still harvesting when the winter snows came again,” added Janzen.

The Manitoba representative said all projects with the exception of one field are now harvested. Across Canada, over 200 growing projects saw farmers and farm supporters come together to plant, tend and harvest a crop to help people experiencing hunger around the world.

Weather varied regionally, from farmers enjoying bountiful harvests in some areas to others relying on crop insurance to help recover losses. “Despite these challenges I am amazed by how Manitoba farmers and other supporters found a way to give back,” concluded Janzen.

December 27, 2019

More Cereal Grains, Less Canola, Corn and Soybeans Seen in 2019

By Elmer Heinrichs Statistics Canada’s final crop production report for 2019 is out, and figures point to farmers producing more wheat, barley and oats, but less of canola, corn for grain and soybeans than in 2018.

The 2019 crop year was a difficult one for many farmers.

Heavy rain, coupled with colder than normal temperatures, made planting conditions difficult in much of eastern Canada early in the crop year, while overly dry conditions in parts of western Canada persisted well into the growing season.

At the time of harvest, higher than average precipitation across Canada, including early snow in the Prairies, slowed harvest for many farmers and will likely result in unharvested crops remaining on the field over the winter.

Despite delays in harvesting, farmers were asked to provide their best estimates of yield and production for all area harvested or to be harvested for the 2019-20 crop year.

From 2018 to 2019, total wheat production rose 0.5 per cent to 32.3 million tonnes, driven by higher yields, up 2.7 per cent to 49.8 bushels per acre. However, harvested area decreased 2.3 per cent to 23.9 million acres.

Manitoba farmers reported that yields fell 1.8 per cent to 59.8 bushels per acre in 2019. Despite the decrease in yields, harvested area rose 5.7 per cent to 3.1 million acres, resulting in a 3.7 per cent production increase to 5.0 million tonnes.

Canola production decreased 8.3 per cent nationally to 18.6 million tonnes in 2019, its lowest level since 2015. Lower production was largely attributable to lower harvested area, which fell 8.8 per cent year over year to 20.6 million acres.

Despite a dry start to the growing season in western Canada and poor conditions throughout the Prairies during the harvest, yields rose 0.5 per cent to 40.0 bushels per acre.

Harvested area in Manitoba declined 5.0 per cent to 3.2 million acres in 2019, while yields fell 3.0 per cent to 42.0 bushels per acre. As a result, canola production in the province was down 7.9 per cent to 3.1 million tonnes in 2019.

Nationally, farmers reported that corn for grain production fell 3.5 per cent to 13.4 million tonnes in 2019. The decrease stemmed from lower yields, which fell 4.8 per cent to 147.2 bushels per acre. The decline was partially offset by a 1.4 per cent increase in harvested area.

Corn production was likely affected by cold and wet conditions during the spring, which delayed planting, as well as dry conditions throughout the growing season and poor weather during harvest in Ontario and Quebec, where approximately 85 per cent of the corn in Canada is grown.

Nationally, soybean production fell 18.5 per cent to 6.0 million tonnes in 2019. The decrease was attributable to lower harvested area (down 10.6 per cent to 5.6 million acres) and yields (down 8.8 per cent to 39.6 bushels per acre). Poor weather conditions throughout the major soybean-producing provinces likely contributed to the decrease in yields from a year earlier.

Farmers in Manitoba reported a lower harvested area for the second consecutive year, down 24.5 per cent to 1.4 million acres in 2019. Yields fell 14.1 per cent to 29.2 bushels per acre, bringing production down 35.2 per cent from 2018 to 1.1 million tonnes - the lowest level in the province since 2014.

Nationally, farmers reported that barley production rose 23.9 per cent to 10.4 million tonnes in 2019. Harvested area was up 13.9 per cent to 6.7 million acres, while yields rose 8.9 per cent to 70.8 bushels per acre.

Farmers reported that oat production rose 21.0 per cent to 4.2 million tonnes in 2019. The increase in oat production was driven by higher yields (up 4.9 per cent to 94.1 bushels per acre) and harvested area (up 15.4 per cent to 2.9 million acres).

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