Ag News

Participants at last week's Canada Grain Act Summit covered a lot of topics from the mandate of the Canadian Grain Commission to issues around delivery contracts
and market information.

The event brought together producers, industry and government representatives from across the prairies.

The President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) Ian Boxall says one thing everyone agrees on is that the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) must focus on following its mandate of protecting producers.

MarketsFarm 2024 Spring Market report looks promising if we get timely rains throughout the growing season.

The Director of Markets and Weather says we're hitting a record pace for Canadian wheat exports.

Bruce Burnett says wheat exports are our one bright spot with exports hitting 13.5 million tonnes, demand is expected to remain strong through most of this crop year with tight supplies in the prairies.

 Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn spent some time at the Manitoba Royal Winter Fair in Brandon this week.

Today, the Province and the Federal Government announced $20,000 in financial support for the event through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

The funding to the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba is for a one-year sponsorship of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. 

The sponsorship supports agriculture as the backbone of the provincial economy as a leader in innovation, research and job creation.

The Canadian Cattle Association's Young Leaders Program has helped to mentor 180 participants in the beef industry.

The CYL program was established in 2010 as an industry succession tool for the beef sector. 

CCA Youth Programs and Engagement Manager Jessica Radau says the program is open to young people 18-35 from across Canada involved in all areas of the beef supply chain.

The grain sector is coming together in Saskatoon to discuss the Canada Grain Act.

The summit is being hosted by the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission.

APAS President Ian Boxall says the Canada Grain Act Summit is an opportunity to discuss key issues, innovations, regulations, and competitiveness within the grain sector.

He says they've invited 40 organizations to attend with producer groups, researchers, stakeholders and government officials both Federal and Provincial.

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay is raising the interest free limit on the 2024 Advance Payments Program.

The Advance Payments Program gives producers access to cash advances of up to $1 million, with the first $250 thousand dollars now being interest free.

He says in the face of so many challenges, our hardworking producers continue to show their resilience and produce top-quality products for Canadians, and the world.

4-H Canada has been forced to reorganize its operations after Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada cut their support to the national youth development program by 35 percent, resulting in the layoff of seven staff members last week.

Interim CEO Hugh Maynard says over the last ten years, 4-H Canada has received plus or minus $1,000,000 in funding from Agriculture Canada.

Some of that money (it varies from year to year) is considered flow-through money, 4-H Canada receives it and then distributes it to the provincial organizations for their programming.

Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn says a total of $16.3  million in Federal-Provincial funding will go to support 101 research and innovation projects.

Projects being funded vary from resDefinitely. There's always an interesting component about new seed varieties possibly and actually opportunities of fertilizer. We work a lot with the university as you know and I think those are a lot of projects that are being done right now at the university along with other agencies.

This winter has been relatively dry and any snow we have seen hasn't been enough to recharge moisture conditions.

Agri-Climate Specialist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Trevor Hadwen says we're going to need timely, consistent rains before seeding and throughout the growing season.

This week's provincial budget included a 4.1 per cent increase or $22.4 million for the agriculture budget.

The $1.5 billion agriculture budget includes $431.7 million to fund federal-provincial risk management programs and $89.4 million for strategic initiatives under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Agriculture Minister David Marit says he's pleased with the agriculture budget with the enhancements they made to the crop insurance file as well as adding another 38 weather stations.