Bonnett returns for another term at the helm of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

Being involved in farm organizations is a lot of fun, says Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett and that’s why the northern Ontario beef farmer sought a second term.

“I’m really enjoying it both on the national side and I also sit on the board of directors of the world farmers’ organization,” says Bonnett, who was acclaimed to a second two-year term as president at the federation’s annual meeting in Ottawa this week. The two vice presidents were also acclaimed. They are Humphrey Banack of Alberta, first vice president, and Marcel Groleau of Quebec, second vice-president.

Changes in fees for grain inspections, rail transportation matters, the continued harmonization of regulations between Canada and the United States along with trade agreements are all on the agenda for the federation this year, Bonnett says. The federation is also dealing with environmental-type matters, including markets for bio-products and adding value to crops farmers are already harvesting.

The federation is looking to continue pursuing a long-term strategy for agriculture “which identifies some of the research and programming needs,” he says. Even though some of that is covered in Canada’s national policy framework, Growing Forward, Bonnett says there’s a need for a longer-term view of “where we want to go in agriculture.”

The current Growing Forward expires at the end of March; the new five-year Growing Forward 2 begins April 1.

Growing Forward doesn’t go beyond the five-year agreement, he explains. “I think we need to recognize the seeds that are planted today in research and innovation might not be ready for harvest for 15 years.”

Bonnett says Canada has a strong domestic market for agricultural products and is also “one of the few countries in the world that can meet the increasing demand that’s happening worldwide, particularly in some of the Asian countries.”

About the federation’s membership, Bonnett says while they’ve lost some members this year, such as the Canadian Wheat Board, the Canadian Horticultural Council and the Canadian Pork Council, they’ve also gained some new members, such as the Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Service and an equine association.

Losing the Canadian Wheat Board wasn’t unexpected because of the government’s decision to remove the board’s single-desk selling authority, Bonnett says, adding they’re still connecting a lot with the horticultural council.

The pork council had concerns about how the federation approaches some trade matters but ‘we’re still having ongoing discussions with them and we’re meeting with them again to build that relationship,” he says. “We’re hopeful we can come to an understanding with them.”

Bonnett says the federation represents all farmers. “We have a strong base of general farm organizations from across the country in every province. You can’t separate supply management and non-supply management or big farmers and small farmers.”

There’s real value in holding all producers together and finding areas of common interest, he says. BF