The ongoing fire situation in Manitoba, resulted in the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Agriculture Ministers meeting virtually last week.
They discussed a number of issues, from the weather impacts to international trade, improving interprovincial trade opportunities, and enhancements to AgriStability.
For the 2025 program year only, they agreed to increase the AgriStability compensation rate from 80 per cent to 90 per cent and increased the maximum payment limit from $3 million to $6 million.
For the 2026 program year, provinces and territories will have the option to use a new inventory valuation method for inventories destined to be used on-farm and agreed to seek the necessary approvals to include feed costs associated with rented pasture as an allowable expense in advance of the 2026 program year.
The country's Agriculture Ministers are also working on increasing the interprovincial trade of food, while supporting business growth and improving market access.
They discussed enhanced client service support from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for small to medium-sized businesses wishing to market food products across Canada under a federal food licence.
They also talked about increasing slaughter capacity where possible in regions with restricted access to services, and allowing interprovincial trade of low-risk manufactured foods without a federal licence.
Two ongoing pilots on meat trade and slaughter are being accelerated which will help provide more information.
Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald noted that thanks to the hard work and dedication of our farmers, ranchers and food processors, we've earned a reputation for producing the best products in the world.
"By working together across governments, we can continue to strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of our sector, drive economic growth, and help to ensure Canadian products continue to lead on quality, safety, and sustainability."
FPT Ministers also highlighted the critical importance of joint efforts across governments to maintain, expand and diversify international market access.
Stats show that in 2024, Canada's global exports of agriculture and agri-food totalled $92.2 billion, that's up from $91.6 billion in 2023.
In 2024, Canada exported nearly $100.3 billion globally in agri-food, fish and seafood products combined. In 2023, that number was $99.2 billion.
FPT Ag Ministers discussed the federal Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office and other resources in the region. Ministers also emphasized the importance of engaging with China at the highest level, to improve the overall trade relationship and to remove Chinese tariffs on Canadian agriculture and seafood products. Ministers also underscored the benefits of existing trade agreements and emphasized the importance of considering the impact of tariffs on businesses.
Manitoba's Minister of Agriculture Ron Kostyshyn co-hosted the meeting, noting that the province remains committed to working with other levels of government, private sector partners, and other provinces to deliver programs that support food security and sustainable practices to ensure the economic viability of farms.
"We will continue to work tirelessly to advocate for important programs that help producers manage environmental and market risks in a changing global political environment."
The annual conference of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Agriculture Ministers is set to take place in Winnipeg, September 7-9, 2025.