Water management makes 2013 priority lists
Friday, December 28, 2012
by SUSAN MANN
Ontario’s farm groups have diverse priorities for the new year that range from managing water resources and working with Ontario’s new premier to seed breeding and ensuring the continuance of effective grains and oilseeds research.
Mark Wales, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture says now that the general farm organization’s accreditation has been sorted out “it’s just go forward.”
Wales notes the province will have a new premier Jan. 26 after the Liberals hold their leadership convention to replace retiring Premier Dalton McGuinty, “and we need to be working with the government” plus the other two political parties. The federation plans to meet with all the parties early next year and review farm policies with them.
Wales says there may be a provincial election next year and the federation will be working with all three parties to ensure there’s as much consensus among the three of them as possible on agricultural policy. “They can argue until the cows come home about the other stuff,” he notes, referring to teacher contracts and health policies.
There’s already strong support among all three parties – Liberals, Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats – for local food legislation, proposed by Liberal Ontario Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin this fall. Wales says “we need a local food act to come back to the (Ontario Legislature) that does the job and gets more local food into institutions.”
Another priority on OFA’s plate is Canada’s new agricultural policy, Growing Forward 2, which starts April 1, 2013. The federation will be working with government and others to finalize program details so farmers can use the programs. “We want to make sure in there that water is a priority issue.”
Wales says this year’s drought “highlighted how important water issues are going to be,” including having enough water and being able to use it. People have realized “if you don’t have water, it doesn’t matter if you want to irrigate when you don’t have any water to irrigate with.”
Keeping the federation’s members involved and informed and “working on behalf of our members all the time to move our industry forward, that’s our priority for 2013,” he says.
Henry Van Ankum, chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario, says they’re looking to continue supporting practical research projects that benefit grains and oilseeds members, such as new technologies or good findings on the better use of inputs. They’re also focusing on research into new uses for grains.
Another priority area for Grain Farmers is attempting to get more public research into the development of new varieties and “try to get some public breeding positions maintained and refilled,” Van Ankum says.
The organization plans to continue pushing the province to implement a two per cent biodiesel mandate within Ontario. The provincial mandate envisioned would be similar to the federal one, which stipulates every litre of diesel sold in Canada must contain two per cent biodiesel made from soybean or other vegetable oil, he explains, noting the Ontario mandate would require each litre of biodiesel sold in the province to contain two per cent biodiesel. “If we don’t make it a provincial mandate then other parts of the country will fill that mandate and Ontario won’t see the benefit,” he says.
Water has also shown up on the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario’s priority list.
President Lorne Small says since they’ve regained accreditation the organization can focus on a few long-term matters, such as water management and sustainability.
Small says water management is “kind of a boring topic right now. But we’re thinking from a productivity standpoint we’re going to be concerned about water.”
CFFO’s concern centres on farmers’ ability to expand irrigation and tile drainage or drainage systems in addition to questioning if there are ways farmers can manage water more effectively to improve the sector’s productivity. “With a limited land base, the big boost you’re going to get in productivity and better yields is irrigation,” he notes.
The other priority for CFFO is agricultural sustainability and that’s looking at maintaining and even improving soil quality and other natural resources along with focusing on biodiversity. “Maybe we do need some of the wild birds,” he notes, adding this area isn’t directly related to the agricultural industry’s productivity but it may be linked in the longer term.
Ann Slater, coordinator for the National Farmers Union in Ontario, who was interviewed before the Ontario Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal tribunal released its decision Dec. 19 denying reaccreditation to the organization, says at the start of the new year they plan to do what they can to stop the release of genetically modified alfalfa in Ontario. The matter highlights one of their big concerns about the threats and challenges of who controls the industry’s seed supply.
“As farmers we are losing control of our seed supply as policies and decisions get made that give more power around seeds to a few large seed companies,” she explains.
NFU-O also plans to continue tracking the various trade agreements now being negotiated by Canada’s government, including one with the European Union and the Trans Pacific Partnership, which involves several Asian countries and the United States.
“Each trade agreement seems to go on the same kind of line where we see a lot of power being given away,” Slater says, noting many discussions and decisions get made without public input. That highlights how little the public is informed and able to find out what the government is doing on Canadians’ behalf, she says.
Amy Cronin, chair of Ontario Pork, Mac James, chair of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, and a representative from the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association did not respond to Better Farming’s requests for comment. BF