The ramped-up trade dispute between Canada and China, including the decision last week by China to curtail imports of Canadian canola, is bad news for producers in the region, say officials.
“We’re at the mercy of the trade guys running the trade deals,” said Brian Roger, chairman of the Mountain View County agriculture service board.
“The politicians are playing with the livelihoods of farmers. That’s maybe not the politically correct thing to say, but that’s exactly right.
“China is not very pleased with Canada, so if they can find anything wrong with shipments of Canadian canola they will and they just did, cancelling loads of canola going into China and it’s driven the price down. It’s not going to be spoiled but the price is in decline.”
The ASB advises the county and province on agriculture-related issues and concerns.
Roger says there is a great deal of canola grown on area farms.
Asked if the dispute will result in local producers deciding to plant different crops in the spring, he said, “It definitely will. Right now barley is looking the best.”
Producers will need to be mindful of their crop rotations, he said.
“Not too many guys can just change in and out very easily,” he said. “They’ve got the rotation set up so they will still have to grow canola.
“If you tighten the rotation up then you have crop diseases. We all know that we have clubroot in this area. We have to be mindful that if we tighten up the rotation of anything, there are pest challenges and crop disease challenges.”
Premier Rachel Notley is calling on the federal government to take action in support of Alberta’s farmers.
“We’ve learned that the Chinese government is barring a huge chunk of our canola shipments from entering their country,” Notley said in a press release.
“This is wrong and it’s unfair. Seventy per cent of agri-food exports to China from Alberta are canola-related products. And canola farming contributes billions to the Canadian economy.
“I’m calling on the prime minister to get back on the job and fight for our canola farmers and the jobs they support. We are calling on Ottawa to stop its navel-gazing about its internal controversies and fight back.”
Alberta farmers and workers stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars and up to 3,000 jobs if the situation is not resolved, she said.
“We need certainty – and now, more than ever, we need Ottawa to be in Canada’s corner,” she said.
