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Note from the editors

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Note from editor Allison Finnamore and associate editor Rae Groeneveld

We have stories this week covering several agriculture sectors throughout the country. We hope you enjoy being brought up-to-date.

Your comments, questions and story ideas are always welcome. You can contact us at allison@finnamore.ca.

1. Report gets the thumbs down

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by Mark Cardwell

The head of Quebec's unionized farming federation has harshly condemned a major government report that recommends scrapping the province's existing income subsidy programs for agricultural producers.

"We believe the abolition of the (provincial income stabilization program) as proposed can only lead to increased danger for family farms and the tearing down of an economic sector," says Christian Lacasse, president of the Union des producteurs agricoles. The UPA represents Quebec's 63,000 agricultural producers.

Report author Michel St. Pierre argues Quebec's decades-old model of farm-income insurance, which ties payments to production, has strayed far from its original mission of helping to develop and diversify Quebec's agricultural sector.

Quebec pays about $900 million a year in insurance to producers, including $550 million to 4,000 hog producers. The report author writes the current farm-income insurance system encourages higher output and overproduction, bigger debt loads, more reliance on government and less entrepreneurial spirit.

"Producers have developed with the state an employee-employer relation that is hurting both," St. Pierre writes.

He says the solution is the gradual abolition of the provincial income stabilization program over the next six years. In its place, he recommends a retirement savings plan program that would be tied to farm revenues and would encourage producers to improve and diversify their operations to take advantage of market opportunities.

Such a system, he says, would breathe new life into Quebec's agricultural community.

The UPA, however, is having none of it. Lacasse says the provincial income stabilization programs works and has permitted Quebec producers to earn higher net profits than their counterparts in other provinces, including in the pork and veal industries.

"The recommendations are incoherent with the needs of agriculture," Lacasse says.

The report was written after 50 meetings with more than 600 producers and agricultural experts, as well as an analysis of previous studies.

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2. Deadstock program dies

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by Owen Roberts

After dedicating close to $20 million in funding over the last five years to support deadstock collection in Ontario, the province announced last week subsidies for the service had come to an end.

Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky says the decision was in line with policies in other provinces. Instead of giving money, she says, Ontario will encourage more deadstock disposal options, especially on-farm approaches such as anaerobic digestion and central composting.

The province warned producers the subsidy would stop. But the sector seemed like it was caught flat-footed. Farm groups held out hope for continued help.

"An extension of the province's funding of deadstock removal businesses would be a short-term fix, giving everyone breathing room and time to develop longer-term solutions," says Larry Davis, director at large for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

"The alternatives are dangerous and unacceptable to the farming industry and to the rest of society -- we can't allow dead and decaying animals to collect in out-of-sight locations because of the dangers of disease and the attraction of wildlife," he says.

A few dozen protesting producers even showed up at Queen's Park in Toronto last week with a handful of animal carcasses, in an orchestrated attempt to garner sympathy for continued support.

But while they had some success gaining media attention, they didn't influence the government. The announcement from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, on behalf of it and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, sounded final.

"We have worked with the livestock industry to modernize the regulations so that producers have more choices to safely dispose of their dead animals and to ensure we continue to have a system that is sustainable for the industry," Dombrowsky says.

The province says the new rules provide greater flexibility for producers and for the deadstock service sector, while protecting the environment. Key changes include giving farmers and deadstock receivers a wider range of choices for carcass disposal on and off the farm. Other changes include covering poultry and other farmed animals not previously under the legislation, and establishing enhanced environmental standards to protect water, animal health and public health.

Livestock producers in Ontario are required, by law, to properly dispose of any livestock carcass on their farm.

3. Dodging economic fallout impossible: ag economist

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by Rae Groeneveld

Canadian agriculture producers will have to be prudent managers to stick-handle the challenges of the global recession, says a well-known agricultural economist.

During a speech in Yorkton, Sask. earlier this week, Dr. David Kohl, professor emeritus with Virginia Tech University, says there is no avoiding the fallout of the American-led economic downturn.

For grain, oilseed and specialty crop producers, Dr. Kohl says be prepared for a tightening of margins as commodity prices come down from their highs of last year.

"I have this old adage in the grain industry. It's called the 'two and 10 year rule.' Two out of every 10 years the weather lines up, the markets line up and you make tons of money," Dr. Kohl says.

In the remaining eight years, Dr. Kohl says the good farm managers can still make a profit.

"Can I make a harsh statement? If you haven't made money in grains agriculture in the past four or five years, you've got a problem," Dr. Kohl states.

With tougher times ahead, Dr. Kohl says producers need to have adequate cash on hand to deal with any unforeseen events.

"If you're in the grain industry, take some of those profits and put it in cash, cash, cash," he says, recommending the amount of cash on-hand is 33 per cent of your net revenue.

"Of course you don't build that up overnight. It often takes five to 10 years to build that working capital, but that working capital is that backstop in this volatile type of environment."

Dr. Kohl says successful farm managers will evaluate their situation and find the approach that works best.

"You can't manage some of the things, but you can manage around them. That is what I see the successful manager doing as we move to the future."

In analyzing the current U.S. economic position, Dr. Kohl says America has been in a recession for 17 months and it could last for as long as 24 or 27 months. A recovery in the U.S. housing market will be one of the key indicators that Dr. Kohl will look for as a sign that the U.S. recession is over.

Dr. Kohl also addressed the long-term outlook for agriculture. In 2025 he sees farms being split into three main categories. Twenty per cent will be smaller and focused on providing niche products for specialty markets such as organic agriculture. Bigger farms operated by multi-member families will continue to evolve and encompass an even larger part of the agriculture landscape.

"The other part of agriculture that is going to be successful is the traditional farm," Kohl predicts.

4. New buffer regulations frustrating

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by Andy Walker

Prince Edward Island producers are becoming increasingly frustrated with changes to buffer zone regulations that will come into effect this spring.

"It's one of the main topics our members are talking to me about right now,"

says Mike Nabuurs, executive director of the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture. "It is a really big issue with the livestock and grain producers."

The new regulations impose a standard 15-metre buffer zone next to all wetlands and watercourses. Previously, the width of the zone varied from 10 to 30 metres depending largely on the slope of the land. The new regulations also require that landowners have a permit to do almost anything inside that zone except cut the grass or plant trees and shrubs by hand.

The environment department says it plans to use this year to educate producers on compliance of the regulations. John Clements, the head of the department's investigation and enforcement section, says they hope for a strong level of co-operation from the agricultural community.

"We don't want to have to lay any charges," he says.

Nabuurs states the new regulations will result in many producers losing an additional five metres of land since the majority of buffer zones are now 10 metres. He adds that with the previous regulations, producers were allowed to underseed the buffer zone and grow some grain crops like barley.

He says producers planted crops like barley in the buffer zones, creating the required grassed headland between fields of row crops and the buffer zone. However, unless producers have a permit, planting within the buffer zone will no longer be allowed under the new regulations.

"Many of our members are telling me they are losing five metres of their land and getting nothing in return," Nabuurs says.

The new buffer zone regulations don't offer any financial compensation for land taken out of production. However, the alternative land use service program launched last year provides some compensation. Producers are paid

$75 an acre for land taken out of production for tree planting, buffer zone expansion and permanent grassed headlines.

"That is certainly a very worthwhile initiative and we as a federation support it," Nabuurs says. "Producers should be receiving more, but it's a start."

However, he says many producers are telling him they are shying away from taking part, concerned that when their application is verified, violations of the new buffer zone regulations may be discovered.

"The regulations are so complex I don't think anybody understands them fully," he says. "I attended many of the information sessions the government held and even the people from the department couldn't say what would happen in many of the scenarios producers suggested."

5. Poultry feed pulled

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by Rae Groeneveld

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has launched an investigation into potentially contaminated feed products at an Alberta rendering plant.

A batch of poultry feed is believed to contain specified risk materials, the tissues from cattle known to harbour BSE. These tissues, such as spinal cords and brain material, are required to be removed at the time of slaughter and are prohibited from use in animal feed, pet food and fertilizer.

SRMs have been kept out ruminant feed since 1997, but in 2007 the ban was expanded to all livestock feed in an effort to stop any further spread of BSE to Canada's cattle herd.

While the CFIA did not specify how much of the poultry feed may have been contaminated or whether any of it was fed, the agency states the presence of the SRMs does not present any health risk to poultry and does not affect the safety of poultry meat and eggs.

Once the problem was discovered, the CFIA says the majority of the contaminated feed was identified, contained and disposed. There is still work underway to identify any other places that may have this contaminated feed. The unnamed Alberta rendering company is working with the CFIA to locate and dispose of any potentially contaminated feed.

6. Organic trade agreement nears

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by Allison Finnamore

North America's organic business association is applauding talks between the Canadian and American governments to reach an organic equivalency agreement.

The Organic Trade Association says Barbara Robinson, deputy administrator at United States Department of Agriculture in charge of the National Organic Program, recently announced the two governments had agreed to sign a letter of intent to complete the negotiations and finalize an agreement by this summer. That's the same time Canada's new organic regulation comes into effect, the OTA points out.

An equivalency agreement would allow for the smooth flow of certified organic goods between the two countries, supporting the expected continued market growth in North America.

OTA executive director Christine Bushway says the organization is pleased the Canadian and U.S. governments recognize the importance of organic trade.

"OTA is grateful for the efforts of both governments to make such important progress toward an agreement, especially the way in which they have worked with the organic sector to understand our need for trade between Canada and the U.S. to continue. Canada is the U.S.'s most important customer when it comes to organic products, and we don't want to see any unnecessary disruption to this relationship."

A trade agreement is good news for Canadian consumers as well, says Matthew Holmes, OTA Canadian managing director.

"Canadian consumers will definitely benefit from this, and will continue to enjoy quality year-round organic products from the United States," he says.

"At the same time, Canadian farmers and manufacturers will be able to certify to our organic standards without having to take on additional, redundant certifications to sell into the United States -- so everybody wins."

7. Alberta forages unite

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by D. Larraine Andrews

Forage producers across the province have established the Alberta Forage Industry Network, representing about 30,000 individuals involved in the industry.

Doug Wray, a southern Alberta rancher and newly elected AFIN chair, says the industry is diverse and broad-based, so there's never been any one group with a big enough voice to be heard. Forages cover everything from ranchers and hay producers to turf and grass seed growers.

According to Wray, the group will focus on several priorities over the next year. One objective is to quantify the collective value of forages in Alberta.

With over 11 million hectares of land across the province in forage, managed range and bush, Wray thinks many people will be surprised at the value contributed by the industry.

"A large part of the forage crop disappears down the throat of a cow," he says. "It isn't a cash crop and so it is hard to value."

Other priorities include getting the word out on the environmental benefits of perennial forages, including their ability to improve air and water quality, reduce runoff and capture carbon. Wray says forages are the other half of the equation that gets overlooked in the methane controversy surrounding cattle.

"The industry is under-recognized and under-appreciated, so we are weighing in to create a voice with enough depth to get some respect," he explains.

"We want to provide a reasoned, measured voice to raise critical issues that resonate with the public, the government and policy makers."

The organization hopes to be self-sustaining through memberships, sponsors and industry support. Through its website,