Ag ministers meeting covers risk management, pesticides, animal disease

Business risk management, pesticide management and animal disease preparedness were among topics discussed by provincial, federal and territorial ministers of agriculture at their annual meeting this week.

The meeting was held in Whitehorse from July 17 to 19.

According to a federal news release, ministers discussed the importance of improving business risk management (BRM) programs—in particular, improving the AgriRecovery program and its interaction with other programs like AgriStability and crop insurance.

They discussed adjustments to AgriStability for livestock and agreed to make further decisions on potential improvements at their next meeting, the news release said.

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They also made general commitments to improving the timeliness and responsiveness of BRM programs.

Following an agreement this week from all major grocery retailers to participate in the industry-led Grocery Sector Code of Conduct, officials agreed to pitch in $1.2 million in short-term funding to support the code of conduct adjudication office.

The ministers also reviewed and endorsed the FPT (Federal Provincial Territorial) action plan to address the recommendations by the FPT pesticide management working group, and they agreed to create an additional working group to explore “approaches that meet the needs of producers and protect human and ecosystem health, while using a science and evidence-based approach to regulatory decisions,” the release said.

The ministers discussed efforts related to animal disease preparedness and response—e.g. African swine fever.

On African swine fever, “ministers noted the significant progress made on readiness to protect the health of animals and the importance of having measures in place, including international zoning arrangements to mitigate any possible risks of trade-related market disruptions.”

More to come.