Ag ministers set priorities for next policy framework

Federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture have agreed that investment in environmental and economic sustainability will help position Canadian farmers and food processors as leaders in sustainable agriculture up to 2028.

The annual FPT meeting was held in Guelph Nov. 8-10. Discussions focused on how the upcoming agriculture policy framework update could position agri-food producers, processors and others in the food value chain to be more competitive and spark growth. 

“My provincial and territorial colleagues and I agreed on an ambitious vision that will guide the development of the policy framework to follow the Canadian Agricultural Partnership,” said Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food at a press conference Nov. 10. “We all want to ensure that our agriculture is sustainable and that our farmers and agri-food entrepreneurs succeed.” 

FPT ministers outlined their vision in the “Guelph Statement”, which has five areas of focus for development of the next agricultural policy framework:

• Investing in climate change and the environment
• Science, research and innovation
• Market development and trade
• Building sector capacity and growth
• Resiliency and public trust 

Peggy Brekveld, Ontario Federation of Agriculture president, said they were pleased to see the Guelph Statement focus on strengthening the agri-food sector in Ontario and nationally by addressing the critical issues raised by commodities. 

“Farmers are partners in environmental sustainability and innovation, and we’re glad to see these included as goals for the future,” said Brekveld. “We share the need to prioritize labour, business risk management improvements, mental health, market access and trade.”

Brekveld said the OFA is looking forward to working with the government and industry to move these priorities forward. 

The need for a reliable agriculture labour force includes reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, attracting, training and retaining more Canadians to ag sector jobs and driving labour-saving automated innovation in agri-food operations as part of the short- and long-term strategy.  

“They (agriculture sector) must be incredibly resilient and innovative in the face of many challenges, including climate change, fluctuations in international trade, and labour shortages,” said Bibeau. “Together, we will invest wisely to grow the sector while protecting our environment, reducing our emissions and safeguarding the well-being of those who ensure our food security.”

As part of the focus on food security, the FPT Ministers of Agriculture discussed Canada’s broader animal health plan and the establishment of Animal Health Canada (AHC). The group approved the next steps required to develop a complete AHC work plan, budget and new governance structure to foster enhanced government-industry collaboration to be presented to Ministers in 2022. The new model for collaboration across the value chain will protect the health and welfare of Canada’s farm animals by the end of 2023.

Ministers discussed the heightened threat of African swine fever (ASF) and the urgent need for a collaborative ASF prevention and preparedness strategy involving all levels of government and industry. 

“We spoke very diligently on the continued priority of federal-provincial-territorial preparedness, to protect our pork industry from the African swine fever,” said Lisa Thompson, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “This was and will remain a key focus, not only this week but in the weeks moving forward.”

Ministers discussed the progress of international trading partner zoning agreements and Canadian hog sector supports to address anticipated market challenges caused by market closures, export shutdowns and domestic hog surpluses if ASF arrives in North America. 

Improvements to make the Business Risk Management (BRM) suite more effective, responsive and predictable when farmers face extraordinary situations, like extreme weather conditions, are also in the works. 

The AgriRecovery response to Western Canada and Northern Ontario’s drought was an excellent example of how quickly and collaboratively programs could be launched and modified to meet the changing needs of producers, said Bibeau,including increasing funding on the fly to meet the exceptional needs of the agriculture community.

“The ongoing AgriRecovery response demonstrates what we can achieve when we work together,” said Bibeau. “Similarly, the improvements to the ArgiStability program last year through the removal of the reference margin limit is part of continued efforts to make sure that program works for farmers.”

There is still room to do better and improve the suite of programs, which the FPT will continue to develop, she said. 

One of the critical baselines of the BRM suite improvements is to incorporate flexibility to reflect Canadian agriculture’s regional diversity and needs, added Thompson.

Improvement to the BRM suite of programs also requires a broader overview of the impact of climate change and the need for research into areas where proactive mitigation could reduce the effects of extreme weather situations. 

“We wanted to make these programs better suited to respond to the new reality, and climate change is a big one,” said Bibeau. “Can we think out of the box and use this program also to reward producers who are adopting the best practices, for example?”

She said investment into science, research and innovation to support the industry, whether in the field through soil regeneration or through automation to address the labour crisis or climate mitigating innovation, are essential, but so is access to these new practices and technologies. 

“We are investing in this direction to make sure that these new practices and technologies are made available to the farmers because we know that they want to be part of the solution,” said Bibeau.