“Other countries have recognized the opportunity that the organic sector has, both in terms of meeting some of their economic goals, some of their environmental and social goals, and they have invested significantly in the organic sector,” said My-Lien Bosch, government relations and regulatory affairs manager with the Canadian Organic Trade Alliance (COTA).

“In order for Canada to compete, we need to do that.”

Bosch spoke as part of an online panel discussion on the upcoming federal election, hosted by the Canadian Organic Alliance on March 27.

Election priorities

The Canadian Organic Alliance has identified two categories of election priorities, said Bosch: quick wins and catalytic investments.

Quick wins include an organic data strategy and a streamlined organic standards review process. It also included positive feedback from policymakers.

“We know that data is going to be able to unlock a lot of things that we can have to make decisions in our businesses, on our farms, and be able to help us plan for the future,” Bosch said.

In other countries, organic standards reviews are government funded, Bosch added, whereas in Canada organic groups have to advocate for government help every few years.

Catalytic investments, defined as “longer-term investments, balancing production and market growth, to grow the Canadian economy,” included an organic market development fund, which Bosch said has worked well in other countries to create a more stable market.

Ongoing research and support are also long-term needs.

Bosch added that other countries invest far more in their organic sectors than Canada does. She said for every dollar Canada invests, the U.S. invests eight dollars, and the EU invests 200 dollars.

“So absolutely this needs to step up,” she said.

Effects of tariffs on organic

Panelists also discussed the need for competitiveness and the potential to expand into other markets as tariffs threaten to disrupt Canadian trade with the U.S.

Canada trades $1.797 billion in organic goods to the U.S., said COTA executive director Tia Loftsgard. As of March 27, goods under CUSMA rule of origin regulations were excluded from tariffs.

The trade situation continues to evolve, however, and Canada and the U.S. are each other’s largest organic trading partners. The two countries have had a sixteen-year agreement organic equivalency agreement that has facilitated seamless trade, COTA’s website says.

“We certainly have been indicating that if we lose these markets, farmers will leave organic,” Loftsgard said, adding that it takes three years to transition farm production back once organic certification is lost.

Loftsgard said COTA is in regular communication with federal officials and has been told that they’ll continue to get updates despite the upcoming election.

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“With increasing demand for local organic products from folks here in Canada and around the world, I have no doubt this investment will have a positive impact right across the value chain,” federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay said in a Thursday news release.

MacAulay pledged up to nearly $$1,175,841 for the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA) over three years via the AgriMarketing program and up to $985,985 over three years to the Prairie Organic Development Fund via the AgriCompetativeness program.

This renews federal funding COTA has received since 2012, executive director Tia Loftsgard said in an email.

“This support has been instrumental in advancing our mission at the Canada Organic Trade Association, enabling us to expand our reach, enhance our marketing strategies, and ultimately strengthen the organic sector in Canada,” she said in the federal news release.

Loftsgard said COTA had requested $5 million over three years but received the same amount as their 2021 grant.

The funding mostly flows to member organizations, she added. The rest goes to funding events, webinars and trade shows, producing organic sector data reports, funding organic advocacy work, and other projects.

The Prairie Organic Development Fund (PODF) is “an investment platform established to develop organic agriculture and marketing in the Canadian Prairies,” its website says.

The federal funding will “advance the organic sector in Canada by building evidence for organics through data aggregation and benchmarking, growing organic supply and leadership through education, tools, and skill-building, and strengthening public trust in Canadian organics,” the news release said.

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“The [Sustainable Agriculture Strategy] is and can be a big opportunity, and organic and regenerative have a lot to offer,” said Katie Fettes, COG’s director of policy and research, in an online presentation yesterday.

The federal strategy, announced in late 2022, is touted as positioning Canada to be a world leader in sustainability.

COG is a member of the strategy’s advisory committee, along with multiple producer groups, conservation groups, and the Manitoba Metis Federation, which Fettes said has coordinated Indigenous community engagement.

Following public consultation, the federal government published a ‘What We Heard’ report late last year.

Fettes said the strategy is forming around six principles: supporting productivity (i.e. economics and profitability), forward thinking, respecting regionality, integration and collaboration, inclusivity (e.g. recognition of Indigenous groups’ interests, the diversity of farmers across operational scales, demographics, etc.), and basis in evidence.

COG and its partners in the organic sector have been making the case that organic producers can fulfill some of the goals of the strategy, Fettes said.

For instance, while ecological practices aren’t exclusive to organic farming, organic farms often “can’t do without them,” she said.

The sector’s third-party verified system also has built-in incentives to help maintain those ecological practices.

“We don’t just want to see uptake of practices. We also want to see them maintained and built upon,” Fettes said.

Other key messages have included the need for the strategy to include multiple pathways for a diverse Canadian agricultural sector; that systems-based approaches like organic are complementary to the strategy; and that the demand for organic food is outpacing the Canadian supply.

Ahead of the next meeting to discuss the strategy, COG is asking for producer feedback via a survey on their website. The deadline for that survey is June 7.

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“The petitioners are calling upon the Government of Canada to give Canadians better and more affordable access to the foods they want by establishing bold policies and programs that would encourage growth in the domestic supply of organic,” said B.C. MP Alistair MacGregor, who tabled the petition.

The Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA), with the support of other organic groups, launched the online petition at the beginning of April and amassed nearly 1,600 signatures according to a May 7 news release from that organization.

The petition called for the federal government to bolster the organic sector through policies and program, and to “meaningfully recognize and incentivize” sustainable and resilient food systems, like organic.

“Agricultural practices and policies must adapt as consumer demand moves towards organic and sustainable options. Investing in organic not only helps mitigate our climate-related risks but also delivers on changing consumer preferences,” said COTA executive director Tia Loftsgard in the release.

Once a petition is tabled, the government must respond within 45 days.

While petitions rarely bring immediate policy change, Loftsgard said they can keep the topic front-of-mind in the House of Commons.

“This petition provides us another forum to talk about the needs of the organic sector with consumers and government and in the broader context of the Organic Action Plan,” Loftsgard said in an April email.

“It also allows supporters of organic to add their voice to our advocacy efforts and to showcase to their Members of Parliament the broad support for Organic across the nation.”

The organic sector is developing a national organic plan and “is united in its request for a policy mechanism to support implementation of the plan,” the news release said.

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“A shift is needed in how we invest in our agri-food sector to protect Canada’s domestic food supply, and ensure sufficient, appropriate, and accessible food for all,” the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA) said in an email to members on Monday.

COTA launched an online petition on April 2 sponsored by NDP MP Alistair MacGregor.

The petition says that Canadian consumers are driving strong demand for organic food, and asks the federal government to establish policies and programs to “encourage growth in the domestic supply of organic to meet the market opportunity,” and to “meaningfully recognize and incentivize sustainable resilient food systems, such as organic, across all departments that relate to Canadian food policy.”

The petition needs at least 500 signatures to be presented to the House of Commons. On Wednesday morning, petition e-4909 had 596 signatures.

In September, national organic groups launched a national organic action plan, which included a push for greater support through federal policy and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s work.

At the time, COTA executive director Tia Loftsgard said that while the federal government provides some funding for organic research and developing export strategies, overall support is “nominal.”

“We get lost in the fold,” she told the Manitoba Co-operator.

This petition supports some of the objectives behind the national organic plan, Loftsgard said in an email yesterday.
While petitions rarely result in immediate policy change, Loftsgard said they can be an effective tool to keep a topic front-of-mind in the House of Commons.

“This petition provides us another forum to talk about the needs of the organic sector with consumers and government and in the broader context of the Organic Action Plan,” Loftsgard said. “It also allows supporters of organic to add their voice to our advocacy efforts and to showcase to their Members of Parliament the broad support for organic across the nation.”

People can sign the petition until May 2.

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“There’s people coming in and there’s people going out,” said Tia Loftsgard, executive director of the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA).

Loftsgard presented COTA’s 2022 organic industry statistics in a webinar on Oct. 20. COTA collects and analyzes data from several industry sources to get a picture of the sector.

In 2022, there were 7702 organic operators, down from 7998 the previous year, said Loftsgard, including 33 fewer farms. This is the first time they’ve seen a decline in operators, she added.

However, the total is still above 2020 numbers of 7624 operators. There were seven fewer organic livestock farmers in 2022 than in 2021, she said. This continues a downward trend, which Loftsgard said they’d need to investigate and address.

That said, total organic acreage was up to 3.8 million acres, from 3.1 million acres in 2021 though down from the 2020 high of just over 4 million acres.

Forty per cent of these acres were forage, green manure and natural areas; 26 per cent was field crops, 20 per cent fruits and vegetables, with the rest in aquaculture plants, maple, and wild harvest.

Wheat and oats were the main organic cereals grown, with just over 311,000 acres and just over 281,000 acres respectively. Producers also grew more than 54,000 acres of corn. Organic pulses were largely split between lentils, with nearly 40,600 acres; chickpeas, with nearly 41,500 acres, and peas, with nearly 31,000 acres. Nearly 108,000 acres of organic soybeans were grown in 2022, with flax trailing at over 52,000 acres grown, and more than 15,000 acres of mustard.

The vast majority of organic livestock was poultry, with about 4.3 million head. Pigs were a distant second with around 293,000 animals, and about 39,000 cattle and other bovine animals.

Total organic sales in 2022 was $10.26 billion, with $7.94 billion in food and beverage sales, up from $9.35 billion in sales in 2021 and $7.24 billion in food and beverage sales.

—Geralyn Wichers writes for Glacier Farmmedia from Steinbach, Manitoba.

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