News

Non-supply managed agriculture sectors are raising concerns over the recent federal announcement of compensation for the dairy sector.

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Marie-Claude Bibeau announced last week that Canada’s 11,000 dairy producers will receive $1.75 billion over eight years, with $345 million being paid the first year as direct payments to dairy producers in proportion to their quota.

Calling the move “shameful,” the Western Canadian Wheat Growers (WCWG) didn’t hold back when responding to the news.

“This is simply electioneering on behalf of our federal government. Dairy farmers in Quebec are receiving funding whereas grain farmers across the prairies are only offered ways to increase their farm debt through the Advanced Payment Programs,” says president of the WCWG, Gunter Jochum.

For the last three years, non-tariff barriers have blocked durum exports to Italy, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Vietnam, the Wheat Growers list in its press release, plus pulse exports to India are similarly being blocked, and a trade war with China has suspended canola exports to the country.

The Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) have called the payout “disappointing” and say grain farmers are being neglected by the federal government.

“The China/U.S. Trade war and Canada’s strained relationship with China are having an impact on our farmer members’ ability to market their crop. We should have been included in the trade compensation package announced late last week,” says Markus Haerle, chair of the GFO.

GFO also says that dairy farmers, “have yet to experience the trade impacts on their sector.”

Beginning in 2020, Farm Management Canada is launching a new National Farm Leadership Program, created with LeaderShift Inc.

The 11-week course is a blend of online and in-person training, including a three-day residency seven weeks into the curriculum. Participants can expect to spend about four hours per week on coursework, and participants will have their leadership assessed to a global data set of leaders using feedback from colleagues and peers.

For a year following, participants will receive personal coaching to understand their leadership assessment and put a plan in place to increase their leadership effectiveness. Participants will have unlimited access to the LeaderLab — a private online community learning platform.

The course will be led by certified executive coach and fourth-generation farmer, Kelly Dobson.

The National Farm Leadership Program begins in January 2020. The residency portion takes places March 10 to 12, 2020, at Sidney, British Columbia.

The program may be eligible for cost-share funding depending on your provincial guidelines and intake deadlines.

The deadline to apply is January 17th. Those interested can follow this link to apply.

Farmers in Saskatchewan are on a roll when it comes to recycling their grain bags. Cleanfarms, a non-profit industry stewardship organization, says that farmers in the land of the living skies have recycled 25 per cent more grain bags this year than they did all of last year.

So far, close to 1,580 tonnes of used, empty grain bags have been turned in for recycling. In all of 2018, the first year of the government-regulated program, the total collected for recycling was 1,265 tonnes.

“With 2019 only at the mid-way point, and with a full harvest season ahead of us, we are expecting that we’ll see the year-end with a very successful recycling program for grain bags in Saskatchewan,” says Cleanfarms’ general manager Barry Friesen. “We have Saskatchewan farmers to thank for that. We are very grateful they are getting on board so enthusiastically with this recycling program.”

According to a news release, Cleanfarms has shipped 84 semi trailer loads of grain bags to a recycler in the southern U.S. where the bags are washed, shredded and the plastic pelletized so it can be used to make new products, such as plastic bags. Each trailer load holds about 120 rolled grain bags, meaning that more than 10,000 grain bags have been shipped for recycling so far this year.

As an example, the collection site at the Unity municipal landfill site – one of the busiest in the province – has already collected about 281 tonnes (281,000 kg) of grain bags so far this year. This translates into 16 semi trailer loads. An additional three loads are set to go in the next few days.

For a full list of where to recycle your grain bags, and other farm products across Canada, click here.

The Ontario government is committing $1.2 million in agri-food research funding for projects related to bioproducts, waste reduction, and recycling technologies.

Through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance, the government is funding research to develop and market biodegradable and/or compostable straws made from natural fibre using Ontario-grown miscanthus grass and corn stover. It is anticipated the material used for the straws could later be used in other common single-use items such as cutlery and food containers.

Another project will use three-dimensional (3D) printing to make lightweight, stable, biomedical, and automotive products using agricultural residues and recycled plastic.

Other research projects include:

• Creating renewable biochemical products from poultry waste
• Adding value to Ontario-grown beans by identifying novel food uses for new products, such as bakery products with new properties and high-value food ingredients from bean processing by-products.
• Investigating renewable energy technologies from greenhouse vegetable waste.

The Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance is a collaboration between the Ontario government and the University of Guelph.