Ag News

As federal, provincial, and territorial agriculture ministers are meeting in Winnipeg this week, the future of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is drawing renewed attention. While the Conservative Party has proposed eliminating the broader program, both farm leaders and Conservative MPs are emphasizing that agriculture will remain exempt.

Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), stressed the importance of the program to the sector.

Conservative Agriculture Critic John Barlow and Canadian Federation of Agriculture President Keith Currie are calling on the federal Liberal government to approve the emergency use of strychnine as a way to deal with the increased number of gophers or Richardson’s ground squirrels (RGS) across the Prairies.

On Friday, Prime Minister, Mark Carney, announced a series of new, strategic measures for workers and businesses in those sectors most impacted by U.S. tariffs and trade disruptions including the agriculture sector.

The Prime Minister talked about a new strategy to transform our economy to one that is more resilient to global shocks. 

A trade delegation for Asia is set to leave on Saturday (September 6).  

The focus of the trip is on relationship building and trade engagement with government officials and industry stakeholders in China, Japan and South Korea.  China imposed a 75.8 per cent tariff on canola seed last month on top of tariffs already in place for canola oil, meal, peas, pork and seafood. 

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is leading the delegation that includes his Trade and Export Minister Warren Kaeding, and Prime Minister Carney's Parliamentary Secretary Kody Blois. 

The Boissevain-Morton-Whitewater (BMW) Foodgrains grow project near Fairfax is ready for harvest, and the community is preparing to come together for the annual event on today.

The field is located 1/2 a mile south of the community of Fairfax and 1.5 miles west.

The 290-acre wheat field has benefited from favorable growing conditions this summer, with timely rains and warm weather helping the crop mature well.

Chris Leckie, fire chief in the Rural Municipality of North Norfolk, says firefighters recently took part in an emergency exercise involving anhydrous ammonia, a hazardous farm fertilizer widely used in the region. The scenario was organized with Portage Agri Sales and Agrium, both of which wanted to ensure crews were ready for a potential incident.

“Portage Agri Sales wanted to do an exercise with anhydrous ammonia, so they asked us if we could be involved,” notes Leckie. “We are the closest response unit for this area, and they would like us to be part of it.”

A late-summer storm left its mark across Manitoba on August 20, with hail falling in nearly every area covered by Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation offices.

“It was a very active day from a weather perspective right across Manitoba. We got 10 offices scattered across Manitoba and we recorded some hail activity in almost all of them,” notes David van Deynze, chief product officer with MASC.

The Conservative Party is calling for an end to the Temporary Foreign Workers program; in its place, they are calling for a single program for the agriculture sector.

Leader Pierre Poilievre quoting the latest employment stats from July, points out we now have 14.6  per cent unemployment rate and 1.6 million Canadians unemployed.

He says the principle behind ending the program is very simple. "Canadian jobs for Canadian Workers"

It looks like India is thinking about implementing an import duty on yellow peas. 

India Pulses and Grains Association is concerned that an increase in yellow pea production in Canada and Russia could result in more imports.

They say ongoing imports have brought down prices, which could discourage Indian farmers from expanding their own pulse production.

The IPGA says in order to raise the price of yellow peas in the domestic market, they are calling on the Indian government to impose a 30 to 40 per cent import duty.

As we approach fall, there becomes a higher risk of frost at night. Frost is one of the disruptions to normal plant growth that can cause a buildup of nitrates in forages and cause nitrate toxicity in livestock. Other disruptions that can cause nitrate buildup can include hail, spray drift, or drought.