Manitoba cooperator

Page 1

On watch

Prove it

The pork sector is keeping an eye on PRRS » PG 9

Just saying it’s sustainable won’t cut it » PG 3

SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 75, No. 50 | $1.75

december 14, 2017

Town hall speakers talk about where the money goes Manitoba Beef Producers hosted one of a series of crossCanada information meetings on the national checkoff

manitobacooperator.ca

Privatized seed inspection sore point for growers Critics say the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is treating Manitoba differently than other provinces, but add it can fix the problem by working more closely with private inspectors

BY LORRAINE STEVENSON Co-operator staff / MacGregor

A

pound of beef takes about 17 per cent less water to produce than it once did, new research being released by the beef industry this week will show. The findings are part of ongoing efforts to measure how the Canadian beef industry has been lightening its environmental footprint as it improves productivity efficiencies since 1981. Other research has identified a 15 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and 24 per cent less land now required to raise that same amount of beef. The findings were shared by Beef Cattle Research Council spokesperson Tracy Herbert while in MacGregor at a town hall meeting on some of the research where national checkoff-funded research that helps address public questions around the environmental impact of beef production.

Craig Koenig, CFIA’s regional chief inspector for Manitoba, told a Manitoba Seed Growers’ Association meeting his staff are willing to work with private pedigreed seed inspectors to help them do a better job.  PHOTO: ALLAN DAWSON

See Manitoba Beef on page 7 »

BY ALLAN DAWSON Co-operator staff / Portage la Prairie

Publication Mail Agreement 40069240

M

anitoba pedigreed seed growers say they’re being held to a more rigid standard than farmers in other provinces. The complaints, levelled at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) were raised at a Manitoba Seed Growers’ Association (MSGA) meeting here Nov. 30. The allegations, which CFIA officials denied, come from some seed growers and companies providing pedigreed seed crop inspection services in Manitoba and other provinces. “There are inconsistencies (with CFIA check inspections) across the country and Manitoba is certainly where a big

chunk of the problem lies,” Gordon Butcher, the head of AgCall and chair of the Authorized Seed Crop Inspection Services (ASCIS), the association which represents the 20 or so inspection companies, said in an interview Dec. 5. “Our (Manitoba) inspectors are fearful (of CFIA checks), whereas in other areas it is more collaborative.” CFIA staff in Manitoba are just doing their jobs, Craig Koenig, CFIA’s regional chief inspector for Manitoba told the meeting. “At the end of the day... our role is a regulator — it’s to identify non-conformities (in crops intended for pedigreed seed),” Koenig said. “It’s not to find mistakes, it’s not to blame, it’s not to issue CARs (Corrective Action Requests), it’s to identify non-conformities.

“My main message is that we really want to work with you.” CFIA inspectors used to inspect seed crops to ensure they met the high purity required to meet pedigree standards. But in 2014 the Conservative government privatized inspections to cut government costs. CFIA trains private inspectors and audits their work. If CFIA finds an inspector is substandard, it will issue a critical Corrective Action Request (CAR). After getting three critical CARs in one season an inspector loses their licence. CFIA issued 13 CARs in Manitoba this year, which Koenig said is not many considering the large number of fields inspected. See seed inspection on page 6 »

PONY UP: AMM WANTS A STABLE FUNDING FORMULA » PAGE 8


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.