Saturday, February 8, 2025

A call for deep thought on U.S. trade

The agricultural economists at Canada’s Agri-Food Economic Systems are calling for detailed analysis of the Canadian industry in order to deal with pressure being applied by United States President Donald Trump. 


So far the Canadian government has prepared a list of U.S. products to which it will apply tariffs if Trump imposes tariffs on Canadian exports.


But Al Mussel, lead researcher at Agri-Food Economic Systems, said that’s a tactic when what’s needed is a strategy.


He said the first step in developing strategy is to understand ourselves, meaning which businesses are heavily dependant on exports to the United States, which ones need imports from the United States, and which ones could tap other export markets or scale up to supply the Canadian market if imports are subjected to Canadian tariffs.


This requires a lot of research and work, they say in their recent report, and it should begin while we’re waiting to see what Trump will do after his 30-day reprieve of tariffs of 25 per cent on everything from Canada is on hold – everything, that is, except oil and gas at 10 per cent.


Organizations- agri-food businesses, industries, and ministries of agriculture- need to use this time to understand themselves very deeply and realistically to identify their interests with respect to the U.S.,” the Agri-Food Economic Systems report said.


Preparation will be paramount. As a rule of thumb, take whatever level of preparation thought to be sufficient and double it so as to be prepared for a situation in flux, and the fog of war.


Some firms and organizations have the resources they need for this; others will be pressed. Governments can offer exceptional support to facilitate preparation.


“A Team Canada approach is a term used widely now, which means different things to different people. As it is applied here, it means preparation by the breadth of players in the agri-food sector individually, so that we can quickly and durably come up with a consensus to feed into the Canadian position and strategy, and provide guidance for adjustment as situations move in flux.”


The Agri-Food Economic Systems team is Mussel, Doug Hedley and Ted Bilyea.

Friday, February 7, 2025

Chicken, egg directors increase their pay

Directors of the Chicken Farmers of Canada marketing agency have increased their pay and have received approval from the Farm Products Council of Canada.

 Per diem fees increases are:


Ø the chair’s per diem fees from $570 to $585 per meeting and travel day/


Ø the directors’ per diem fees from $430 to $440 per meeting and travel day).


Ø the chair’s fees for each conference call of less than three hours from $285 to $292.50.


and from $570 to $585 for each longer than three hours and maximum allowable amount per day from $570 to $585.


Ø the directors’ fees for short conference calls from $215 to $220 and for calls longer than three hours from $430 to $440.


Egg Farmers of Canada have council approval to increase the chair’s per diem from $500 to $550 per day and directors per diems from $450 to $500 per day.


They also get another $1,000 monthly honorarium, bringing that total to $12,000 per month.


The chair’s monthly honorarium goes up from $5,500 to $6,000 per month for an annual total of $72,000.


The directors from provincial marketing boards also earn additional per diems from their provincial marketing boards.


Thursday, February 6, 2025

U.S. pork farmers talk trade

Without explicitly saying so, Duane Stateler, president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council, came out against the 25 per cent tariffs United States President threatens to place on Canada and Mexico.


Strateler highlighted Mexico and Canada as key trading partners, noting that North American collaboration allows producers to meet protein needs worldwide.


Last year, the U.S. exported 1.2 million tons of pork to Mexico and 212,000 tons to Canada.


January-November exports to Mexico were five per cent above the record pace of 2023 (when exports increased by 14 per cent over 2022) at 1.05 million tons. 


Export value climbed 10 per cent to $2.33 billion — at the cusp of the full-year value record ($2.35 billion) posted in 2023.


“As there are struggles in other parts of the world, we see the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as strong partners in helping to supply protein where it’s needed,” Stateler said.


Another point he left unsaid is that U.S. hog farmers need piglets from Canada, especially from the Canadian Prairies and Ontario to the mid-west.

U.S. egg shortage to last a year

The United States egg shortage and record-high prices are likely to last into next year, said a report from CoBank.


Highly-pathogenic avian influenza has led to the loss of 100 million egg-laying hens.


The report also said “consumer demand for eggs has skyrocketed in recent years, with per capita consumption growing 20 per cent from 2016-2019. 


“Demand has also shifted away from conventional eggs as more consumers are choosing cage-free and other types of specialty eggs – further complicating the supply challenges. 


“As well, nine states have enacted laws that require eggs sold in their states to be from cage-free hens.”


In Canada, under supply management the government requires egg marketing boards to keep the Canadian market supplied. In return, the marketing boards can control production to a level that covers production costs and allows some profit, return on labour and return on investment, minus the cost of quota.”


The confluence of all three factors is prolonging the timeline for bringing egg supply and demand into closer alignment. Until then, retail egg prices will remain elevated, CoBank said.


Rising demand for cage-free eggs has also outpaced supply in recent years. Currently, more than 120 million or roughly 40 per cent of the table egg layers in U.S. commercial flocks are housed in cage-free production systems. That compares with just 30 million layers housed in cage-free systems in 2015. 


While the growth in supply of cage-free eggs has been substantial, more will be needed to adequately meet demand projections.


Consumer demand for eggs peaks twice a year – before Christmas and for Easter.


In the past, Canadian egg-grading companies, dominated by Burnbrae and Grayridge, have imported eggs from the United States for these peak-demand seasons, but have also declared surpluses in immediately after those seasons.


They dump the surpluses on the egg marketing boards and national agency and egg farmers foot the bills via marketing levies.

                                    

 

 

 

 

New avian flu strain infects cows

 A new strain of avian influenza has shown up in milk samples from Nevada, reports the United States Department of Agriculture.


This second strain was the predominant genotype among wild birds this past fall and winter and has also been found in poultry, the U.S.D.A. said.


“We’re seeing the H5N1 virus itself be smarter than all of us,” said Beth Thompson, South Dakota’s state veterinarian.


“It’s modifying itself so it’s not just staying in the poultry and the wild waterfowl. It’s picking up a home in the mammals.”


Wild birds likely transmitted the second strain to cattle in Nevada, said J.J. Goicoechea, Nevada’s agriculture director.

Innovation strong in Canadian agriculture

 


“Canada’s foodtech ecosystem has made remarkable progress over the last decade, driving transformative innovations that enhance sustainability, boost economic productivity, and create jobs nationwide,” said Dana McCauley, chief executive officer of the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) when she recently released its first annual report.

 “However, to truly realize our potential as a global foodtech superpower, we must address the pressing challenges that remain. CFIN is fully committed to empowering homegrown innovators and fostering solutions that will shape the future of food technology in Canada,” she said, 

The report charts more than $4.1 billion in Canadian agrifoodtech investments between 2014 and 2024, in which $2.3 billion went specifically to foodtech projects.  

While Canadian foodtech has seen a healthy inbound of investments, with an 8.4per cent compound annual growth rate compared to -2.6 per cent globally, the report found an unbalanced funding distribution between public and private funding.  

Over the past four years, approximately 60 per cent of foodtech investment rounds in the United Kingdom and the United States have been backed by venture capital, compared with 40 per cent in Canada. 

However, public grants play a much more significant role in Canada, comprising 30 per cent of all foodtech funding round which compares with five per cent in the U.K.and eight per cent in the U.S. 

The plant-based sector’s 60 companies account for half of Canada’s foodtech industry.

On the global stage, the report shows that Canada has a larger pool of plant-based protein innovators, representing 26 per cent of the Canadian foodtech ecosystem, compared to the 14 per cent global average.  

More and more Canadian startups are developing solutions to address the country’s 21 million tonnes of food waste, ranging from repurposing the ‘outcasts’ of the food industry to converting waste into syrup, the report said.

This growth is reflected across the 11 food waste management companies examined in the report such as Flashfood, Knead Tech, and Crush Dynamics.

Canada’s biotech sector has seen significant growth in food processing, with 18 companies using innovative biotech processes to produce nutrient-dense proteins for infant formulas, cognitive health supplements, and other food products. Notable companies in this field include Mara Renewables and Chinova Bioworks, the report said.

Labour shortages and supply chain complexities pose significant challenges for Canada's food system, with manufacturers, restaurants, retailers, distributors, and foodtech companies struggling to find talent amid an aging workforce, low national birth rate, reduced immigration and temporary foreign worker levels, and steep competition, NIMA said.

Trump freezes agriculture funds


 

United States President Donald Trump and/or Elon Musk have frozen funds for farmers from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIMA) which is part of the United States Department of Agriculture.


NIMA funds research, education and extension activities. In fiscal year 2024, the agency awarded nearly 2,200 grants, totaling $2 billion. 


It was founded in 2008 and during his previous term as president Trump moved its head office from Washington to Kansas City, Missouri. 


That was criticized for causing a brain drain and the agency staff was cut in half.

AGCO sales and profits plunge

AGCO reports sales last year of $11.7 billion, 19.1 per cent lower than the previous year.

It lost $314 million compared with a profit of 339 million in 2023.


It slashed production by 33 per cent in the fourth quarter and said that led to an improvement.


It plans to continue making adjustments this year.

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Anand said provincial trade barriers could end in 30 days


Federal Transport Minister Anita Anand said inter-provincial trade barriers could come down within 30 days.

When a reporter asked during a news conference if interprovincial trade barriers could be dealt with, wiped away in 30 days, Anand said “ the short answer to your question is yes.”

Anand said an emergency meeting last week between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers neans "we are making incredible, fast-paced progress with all of the provinces and territories."

 

"We are at a pivotal moment in the history of our country and in the future of the Canadian economy," she said.

"Every minister at the table felt the need, as do I, as does our government, to act collectively, to seize the moment and to do whatever we can to reduce those barriers to trade.

"The momentum is palpable. The moment is here and we are seizing the moment."

Anand has previously said that removing existing barriers could lower prices by up to 15 per cent, boost productivity by up to seven per cent and add up to $200 billion to the domestic economy.

There has been no indication whether provinces will agree to allow dairy and poultry quota to move among provinces. Some provinces has said they need to ban quota sales to farmers in other provinces, else they will lose almost all their production.

Another supply-management trade barrier keeps Quebec and Ontario chicken processors from buying from farmers in the other province.

NFU renews call for national food policy

The National Farmers Union is using the threat of tariffs to renew its calls for major agriculture policy initiatives.

It said United States President Donald Trump’s threat of 25 per cent tariffs “means we can no longer consider trade agreements reliable.


“No matter what happens, Canadian farmers, workers, and consumers will be well served by initiatives that strengthen our food sovereignty and reduce our vulnerability to supply chain disruption, income loss, price increases and food shortages."


It said supply management needs to be defended, but there are recent comments from senior Trump administration officials that dairy and poultry trader barriers to protect supply management need to come down.


The NFU said Canadians need to diversify export markets, yet the government has signed a number of new trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnersbip, with the European Union and half a dozen relatively small-market countries.


It wants the federal and provincial governments to commit to rebuilding local and regional food production, processing, storage and distribution infrastructure “so that Canada has reliable, long-term capacity to feed our population.


It repeated earlier calls for “full labour rights, open work permits and a pathway to citizenship” for temporary foreign workers.


It said something new in saying “there is a great opportunity to re-tool and expand our capacity to produce equipment  designed for Canadian farms of all sizes and production types.


And it repeated long-standing complaints about “corporate profiteering”


“Our anti-trust/competition framework has proven inadequate as seen by the approval of Bunge’s take-over of Viterra.


“If Canada is unable or unwilling to break up monopolistic companies, other methods of regulating and limiting their market power must be put in place or they will be in charge of our food supply.”

JBS pays cattlemen $83.5 million

A group of ranchers and cattle producers has reached settlement with JBS USA and will get $83.5 million ($118.6 million Cdn).


The plaintiffs, including Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America and several individual producers, filed the motion for preliminary approval. If approved, the settlement would establish a fund to compensate cattle producers who were allegedly harmed by JBS’s conduct.


The agreement covers claims against JBS USA Food Company, Swift Beef Company, JBS Packerland, Inc., and JBS S.A. JBS has not opposed the motion.


The antitrust lawsuit, originally filed in April 2019, alleged that JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill, and National Beef Packing violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 by engaging in a price-fixing conspiracy. It also alleged the processors violated the Packers and Stockyards Act as well as the Commodity Exchange Act.


“JBS maintains the claims asserted in the litigation are frivolous and without merit,” the company said. “By entering this agreement, JBS admits no wrongdoing for the claims alleged. This decision is in the best interest of the company, and JBS will continue to vigorously defend its interests against the remaining plaintiffs.”

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Maple Leaf appoints three leaders


 

Maple Leaf Foods has filled three executive positions.


Mike Yang becomes chief supply chain officer, Josh Kuehnbaum senior vice president of customer business development and Ryan Walker senior vice president of poultry.


Yang, comes from Kruger Products, Noramerica International Corp., Irving Consumer Produccts and Kimberly Clark Corp. He succeeds Iain Steward, who will retire in May after more than 35 years with Maple Leaf Foods.


Kuehnbaum, who has more than 25 years at Maple Leaf Foods, specializes in building strategic and enduring customer relationships. His appointment consolidates responsibility for all the company’s Canadian retail and foodservice sales under a single leader. 


Walker is also a Maple Leaf veteran, having held roles in operations and business development in Canada and the United States. He replaces Ben Brooks, who also retires in May after a 21-year career at Maple Leaf.



Musk sues former Twitter advertisers


 

X, which was Twitter before Elon Musk bought it, is suing advertisers including Tyson Foods, Unilever and Mars, for pulling their advertising after Musk bought the company.


It claims that Tyson, along with Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories and others, coordinated with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and the now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) to organize an advertising boycott. 


The lawsuit, originally filed in August, was updated over the weekend to include Tyson, Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories and others to the list of defendants.


According to court documents filed in Texas, X claimed that WFA and GARM pressured advertisers to cut ties with the platform to force compliance with GARM’s brand safety standards.


The lawsuit previously named other food giants, including Unilever and Mars. Unilever reached a settlement with X in October.

Monday, February 3, 2025

Feds delay gains tax

The federal government is delaying an increase in capital gains tax until next year.

Grain Farmers of Canada was among farm organizations opposed to the tax. 


It failed to pass House of Commons final approval before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament.


The government had planned to increase the taxable portion of capital gains from 50 to 66 per cent.


Kyle Larkin, executive director of Grain Farmers of Canada, said “the tax hike has already forced many family farms to sell early and will increase cost for most family-run grain farms who produce the majority of food that Canadians and the world rely on once implemented next year.” 

Cargill settles turkey price-fixing

A federal judge granted preliminary approval for a $32 million settlement between Cargill and a class of turkey buyers in an antitrust lawsuit.

The settlement still needs final approval from a board, but the agreement would bring the total recovery for the buyers to $37.1 million, following a $4.6 million settlement with Tyson Foods in 2021.


Cargill also agreed to provide cooperation to aid DPPs in their ongoing claims against non-settling defendants.

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Judge halts avian flu depopulation order


 

A federal court justice in British Columbia has given a reprieve to 400 ostriches on a secluded ranch in southeast British Columbia that were ordered killed over fears of the spread of avian flu.

 

Justice Michael Battista ruled late Friday that more information is needed to determine whether the cull – ordered last month by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency – was reasonable and necessary.

 

Two of the birds died, but the rest have survived for two weeks since the last one died Jan. 16. The owners say ostriches have unusually high immune systems.

 

The birds were slated to be destroyed Feb. 1 after a virulent strain of avian flu, known as H5N1, was discovered in the flock late in December.

 

The virus has been sweeping through poultry farms across B.C. and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has ordered complete destruction of any flock that has an infected bird.

 

Justice Battista ruled that killing the ostriches would expose the farm’s owners – Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski of Edgewood, B.C. – to “irreparable harm,” resulting in the closing of their 25-year-old business and the loss of animals they have spent decades fostering.

 

The justice also questioned whether the CFIA kill order was “reasonable” in this case, and whether it infringed on provincial responsibility.

 

CFIA lawyers noted that a country cannot be considered free of avian flu until at least 12 months from an infection in poultry, as opposed to 28 days where stamping out is implemented.

 

They owners said the World Organization for Animal Health – the international standard-setting organization for the safe trade in animals and animal products – allows member countries, including Canada, to use vaccination to fight avian flu.

 

The 24-hectare ranch is located 10 kilometres outside Edgewood. Fauquier, the nearest town, is accessible by a ferry across Arrow Lake. 

 

Vernon, the nearest city is a two-hour drive west. Since the COVID pandemic shuttered their meat and oils business, Espersen and Bilinski have been producing and extracting antibodies from ostrich eggs for scientific research.

         

Canadian farmers vulnerable to Trump tariffs

Canadian farmers are vulnerable to United States President Donald Trumps tariffs.


Ted Bilyea of Canadian Agriculture Policy Institute said “the United States agri-food trade balance with Canada has changed to a significant and growing deficit; Canada exports more in agri-food to the U.S. than it imports, across a broad category of products.


“Under a sharply protectionist U.S. administration, this could turn out to be a liability for Canada.  But the U.S. is also trade deficit in agri-food with Mexico, and with the rest of the world as a whole- even as global supplies of many staple food are short- so tariffs could result in self-injury to the U.S.,” he wrote in a policy note.


“The U.S. tariffs must be understood in the context of deportations that shrink the workforce and a reduced tax base”, said Douglas Hedley, a research associate and co-author of the paper.


The tariffs appear to aim to increase tax revenues and to bring foreign industries back to the U.S., but farmland can’t be moved, he noted.


The deportations will tighten an already-stretched agri-food workforce, highly dependent on foreign workers.  Tariffs also threaten to make food prices higher “and are entirely inconsistent with U.S. trade obligations to Canada and Mexico,” he said.


When China cut imports of canola, the U.S. became a good alternative, but the 25 per cent tariff will bite hard.


“The free trade deal among Canada, Mexico and the U.S. is still in force today and could be leveraged to provide some relief, or slow down the threat of 25 percent tariffs”, said Al Mussell, the lead researcher and co-author of the paper.


“But Canada needs all of the tools of diplomacy available, including retaliation - particularly on products that we both import from and export to the U.S. for substitution, and being careful to exempt critical imports from the U.S. 


“Industry leadership will be more important than ever, as we engage this situation in a period of flux in political leadership,” Mussel said.


They say Trump’s 2019 tariffs reduced U.S. gross domestic product, so may impact foreign exchange rates and prompt the U.S. to impose currency controls.


Canola, canola oil for ethanol and canola meal are high on the list of products the researchers mention.


They also note that exports of bakery goods, fresh fruits and vegetables and beef have increased since 2020, but so too have Canadian imports of U,S. beef.


They made hardly any mention of Canadian exports of hogs and pork, both of them significant. The tariffs could bankrupt some, and perhaps many, Canadian hog producers.


One Ontario region that will be hard hit is the Leamington-area greenhouse business growing tomatoes and cucumbers, but they might benefit from Canadian tariffs on U.S. fruits and vegetables.

Saturday, February 1, 2025

PED outbreak in Middlesex


 

Swine Health Ontario reports there has been an outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in a finisher barn in Middlesex County.


It is the 24th outbreak of porcine viruses this year.

Friday, January 31, 2025

Ford makes 101 appointments on election eve

Premier Doug Ford’s government made 101 appointments to various boards and agencies on the eve of his election call.

It is the largest batch of appointments in years.


Are they worried they will lose, or were they simply catching up on months of neglect?


They are posted at https://www.pas.gov.on.ca/Home/New-appointments.

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Fed extend farm environment subsidies


 

The federal government has committed $300 million over the next three years to continue the On-Farm Climate Action Plan (OFCAF), which aims to reduce harmful emissions.


Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said the same 13 organizations that have been administering the program will share the $300 million.


They are the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, ECOCERT Canada, Manitoba Association of Watersheds, Manitoba Métis Federation, Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture, New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association, Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc., Prince Edward Island Federation of Agriculture, Results Driven Agriculture Research, Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds and L’Union des producteurs agricoles and B.C. Investment Agriculture Foundation.


The OFCAF wants farmers to adopt beneficial management practices in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as planting cover crops, managing nitrogen and using rotational grazing.

From CBC website

"I did not expect to be a slave here."

Bénédicte Carole Zé came to Canada in 2016 to work on a poultry farm after paying $10,000 in illegal recruitment fees for a job here. But once she arrived, she says she was forced to work 70- to 80-hour weeks for an employer who she alleges sexually abused her, controlled her banking and did not let her leave the house or have a cellphone, while threatening her with deportation if she complained.

"I lived two years under slavery," Zé, now a permanent resident and an advocate for migrant justice, said in French at a media conference in Montreal Thursday morning.

"An animal had more value than me. I had no rights."

The Cameroonian woman's story is just one of many accounts of exploitation and abuse in a new Amnesty International report into the experiences of labourers in the temporary foreign worker program (TFWP).


I think chicken marketing boards should find out who did this to this worker and cancel the quota.

Quota holders need to be reminded that their business depends on governments which have granted extraordinary privileges. Abusing those privileges is unconscionable.

And if the marketing boards fail to investigate and take appropriate action, their provincial and national supervisory agencies ought to.

Smithfield ready to expand


 

Smithfield Foods is now independent from WH Group of China now that it has successfully launched on the United States stock market where its shares sold for $8.1 billion US.


Before the listing, the company carved out its European business, ended contracts with some U.S. hog farms and shut a California pork plant.


“We believe that really the heavy lifting is done,” chief executive officer Shane Smith said. “This next phase will be focused on growth.”’


JBS once owned J.M. Schneider Inc. of Kitchener, but sold it to the McCain family which merged it into Maple Leaf Foods.


I wonder if Smithfield will make a bid to buy Maple Leaf Foods?

Trump tariffs zero in on Canadian dairy industry


 

U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Commerce Department, Howard Lutnick, said he will work to increase access to Canada’s dairy market.


He was testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee.


Lutnick said Canada has treated U.S. farmers “horribly” and would work to make sure that they do “much, much better in Canada than they’ve ever done before.”


He also said Canada and Mexico can avoid tariffs if they take effective action to stop illegal immigration and fentanyl.


He also said Trump’s proposed tariffs will not result in inflation.

Idaho dairymen fear deportations


 

Idaho Dairymen’s Association fears that President Donald Trump’s drive to get rid of undocumented immigrants will force them out of business because more than half of their workers are at risk.


They and Governor Brad Little are lobbying for a change in rules so dairy workers can qualify under a program that allows crop farmers to hire undocumented immigrants.


The president of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association said deporting all of these undocumented immigrants would be devastating to more than just these farms.


“You would see significant inflation on food prices across the board just because you would remove a significant portion of the on-farm workforce.”


Idaho captured the Chobani yogourt business when marketing boards in Canada frustrated the company’s bid to build its second plant at Kingston.

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Pilgrim’s Pride pays off investors


 

In another twist to the price-fixing lawsuits, Pilgrim’s Pride has settled a class-action lawsuit filed by investors who said the company misled them about the reasons for its profits.


The settlement resolved nearly a decade of litigation in federal court in Colorado. 


The 2016 lawsuit alleged the company misrepresented its profitability, attributing it to product mix and pricing strategies rather than anti-competitive practices.


The settlement covered stock purchases made between February 2014 and November 2016 and requires approval from U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson. 


In 2021, the company pleaded guilty to federal price-fixing charges and paid a $107.9 million fine. In 2023, it agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims that it conspired to underpay chicken farmers.

Tarts under recall


 

D. Effe T. brand Lemon Delight and Tartlet with Forest Fruits have been recalled due to Salmonella.


The Canadian Food Inspection Agency identified the problem while it was following up on an outbreak of salmonella poisonings.


The tarts were served to customers, not sold at stores.


There is a related recall underway for Sweet Cream brand Mini Patisserie products.