Behind the Lines - April 2009 Sunday, April 5, 2009 Quebec's ASRA (Assurance Stabilisation du Revenu Agricole) has long been the envy of pork producers in Ontario and elsewhere.For various reasons, language being one and the united public front put forward by the Union des Producteurs Agricole another; parts of the program have been a mystery for most Ontario Producers. ASRA is also coming under increasing attack within Quebec because it's long been considered too rich for the government to continue supporting.This past winter The Fraser Institute, a right wing think tank based in British Columbia, reported that Quebec producers were guaranteed $163.77 for a hog that brought less than $120 in the marketplace in 2008, and another program gave $182 million to the piglet-producing industry. Over two years, subsidies were estimated to total more than $1.1 billion.Talking about billions of dollars, however, still doesn't put a face on the pork producing situation in Quebec. That's something our writer Suzanne Deutsch has managed nicely. Her story, beginning on page 6, personalizes the challenges facing Quebec's pork producers, many of who express disillusionment because they are as indebted as any farmers in Canada, in spite of the rich payouts from ASRA. As we were going to press, we learned that Quebec is making some changes that may be unprecedented. Producers there will be partnering with processors to fund development of new pork products. We will have more on that as details become available.Quebec's pork board, La Fédération des producteurs de porcs du Québec says the province has 3,900 producers producing 7.5 million pigs. In contrast, Ontario Pork's website says we have 2,800 producers, producing about 5.3 million hogs. It's been a while since Ontario's industry was larger than Quebec's.It's hard to overlook the irony that Ontario's far older single desk selling capability is being dismantled at the same time as Quebec is proudly celebrating the 20th anniversary of its single desk system. As we went to press, the Ontario Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal granted producers Rein Minnema, Fields Farms Ltd., Huron County Pork Producers Association and Ontario Pork Districts 10, 11 and 12 status to appeal the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission ruling last October taking away Ontario Pork's long standing powers as a single desk agency. You can stay up to date on the future of Ontario Pork at www.betterfarming.comOne thing producers in both Quebec and Ontario have in common is a general reliance on corn and soybean based rations. In fact Janice Murphy's column on page 33 in this issue shows just how far we've come with our feeding programs in the past century. Can you believe that a century ago soybeans were used for green manure and were so rare that they weren't included in the 1910 U.S. crop census? ROBERT IRWIN Cover Story: Quebec Pork Producers Seems Temple likes farrowing crates after all
Prairie ag organizations join Global Agriculture Technology Exchange Wednesday, September 18, 2024 Three ag organizations from western Canada have announced their involvement to help position Canada as a world leader in cereal grains. Alberta Grains, the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and the Manitoba Crop Alliance are contributing more than $13 million towards the Global... Read this article online
Alistair MacGregor no longer federal NDP agriculture critic Wednesday, September 18, 2024 The federal NDP has a new agriculture critic. Richard Cannings, the MP for South Okanagan – West Kootenay, is stepping into the role after Alistair MacGregor, the MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, is moving onto different responsibilities. “Big news today, as I have accepted new... Read this article online
Where could ag fit in the fall session of Parliament? Tuesday, September 17, 2024 MPs returned to Ottawa this week to begin the fall session of Parliament. With the NDP pulling out of its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals, a federal election could be triggered at any time if a non-confidence vote passes in the House. The carbon tax, cost of living... Read this article online
BASF introduces Surtain herbicide for field corn growers Tuesday, September 17, 2024 Field corn growers in eastern Canada have a new crop protection product available to them. After about 10 years of research and trials, BASF has introduced Surtain, a residual herbicide for corn that combines PPO inhibitor saflufenacil (Group 14) and pyroxasulfone (Group 15) in a premix... Read this article online
Canada rail union launches court challenges to back-to-work order Monday, September 16, 2024 The union representing workers at Canada's two main rail companies said on Friday it had filed court challenges against rulings by the country's industrial labor board that forced them back to work,Reuters reported. On Saturday, the board accepted a request from the government to order... Read this article online