Wheat ending stocks for 2022/23 were lowered to 3.540 million tonnes by AAFC, from an estimated 3.980 million tonnes in June. The new crop wheat carryout was cut by 700,000 tonnes, to 5.100 million. Wheat production for 2023/24 was pegged at 35.331 million tonnes, down from 35.751 in June but still well above the 33.824 million tonnes grown in 2022/23. 

The oats carryout for 2023/24 was another notable adjustment, dropping to only 450,000 tonnes, from an estimated 1.000 million in June and the current marketing year target of 1.250 million tonnes. Total Canadian oats production was forecast at only 2.816 million tonnes in 2023/24, an 800,000 tonne drop from the June estimate and below the 5.226 million tonnes grown in 2022/23. 

Canola production for 2023/24 was raised to 18.800 million tonnes, from 18.400 million in June. However, ending stocks were left unchanged at the relatively tight levels of 650,000 tonnes for the current crop year and 600,000 tonnes in 2023/24.  

New crop production estimate for both peas and lentils were lowered from the June report as AAFC factored in Statistics Canada’s latest acreage estimates to 2.900 million and 2.100 million tonnes respectively. Pea ending stocks for 2023/24 are now forecast at 225,000 tonnes, from 375,000 in June and 400,000 the previous year. Lentil ending stocks are forecast at 125,000 tonnes, which would be down from the 200,000 tonnes projected in June but still up from the 100,000-tonne carryout anticipated for the current marketing year. 

— Phil Franz-Warkentin is an associate editor/analyst with MarketsFarm in Winnipeg.

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Biden said thousands of people with prior federal convictions could be denied employment, housing or educational opportunities and his executive action would relieve such “collateral” consequences.

Biden’s move fulfills a campaign promise and is likely to please members in his left-leaning political base ahead of the November midterm elections in which the president’s fellow Democrats are defending control of the House of Representatives and Senate.

“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs,” Biden said.

He urged state governors to follow suit.

“Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either,” Biden said.

Shares of cannabis growers and sellers surged following Biden’s comments, with Tilray Brands and Canopy Growth both jumping more than 20 per cent.

The results of a classification review could have wide ramifications. Presently the drug falls under the same classification as heroin and LSD and is in a higher classification than fentanyl and methamphetamine, the president said.

If marijuana classification were to ease at the federal level, that could allow major stock exchanges to list businesses that are in the cannabis trade, and potentially allow foreign companies to begin selling their products in the U.S.

While many states have legalized the medical or recreational use of cannabis, the substance remains illegal under U.S. federal law, forcing most major banks to deny their services to cannabis-related businesses.

The issue has forced U.S. marijuana companies to trade their shares over the counter or by listing in Canada, with the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange prohibited from listing them.

The president’s action drew praise from some members of Congress.

“The Progressive Caucus applauds this action by President Biden today to advance criminal and racial justice,” said Representative Pramila Jayapal, who chairs a group of left-leaning lawmakers, in a statement.

Biden said he had directed Attorney General Merrick Garland to develop an “administrative process” to issue certificates of pardon to those who are eligible.

“The Justice Department will expeditiously administer the President’s proclamation, which pardons individuals who engaged in simple possession of marijuana, restoring political, civil, and other rights to those convicted of that offense,” the department said in a statement.

Biden said certain rules needed to stay in place even as regulations around the country loosened.

“Finally, even as federal and state regulation of marijuana changes, important limitations on trafficking, marketing, and underage sales should stay in place,” Biden said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Jeff Mason and Doina Chiacu; additional reporting by Noel Randewich, Shariq Khan and Richard Cowan.

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The money will be used “to ensure the beef industry has the necessary resources to seize new export opportunities, to remain competitive and continue to be a sustainable driver of economic growth,” said a release from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Some of the money will be used for training and e-learning activities at the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence in Calgary.

“These activities will help industry increase knowledge around the advantages of Canadian beef, enable it to promote the excellence of Canadian beef and help to increase public trust in beef products,” the government release said.

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The “Smash Milk” campaign is a digital effort aimed at social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube — with a video showing very energetic young people doing things such as riding on a giant wrecking ball (made out of cheese) smashing into a huge glass of milk. (The 30-second spot can be seen at smashmilk.ca.)

Per capita milk consumption has been declining for more than two decades and milk alternatives made from plants have been steadily increasing (although they are still a small part of the market).

The marketing campaign shows different ways that dairy products can be consumed “whether it’s melting it onto movie night nachos, beating it into a frothy dessert topping, or rolling it into a delectable cheese ball,” Alberta Milk said in a release.

“Our business landscape has become incredibly competitive,” said marketing and communications manager Karlee Conway. “We need to remind Albertans that dairy comes in so many enjoyable formats apart from the traditional glass of fluid milk.”

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DFC and Toronto-based, TSX-traded Pizza Pizza — which as of March 31 included 622 Pizza Pizza and 103 Pizza 73 outlets across eight provinces — announced Thursday the company will showcase DFC’s Blue Cow in select Pizza Pizza marketing campaigns nationwide.

The Blue Cow logo rollout began in Ontario this spring and will spread across all Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 locations throughout Canada later this year, DFC said.

Upgraded to its current form in 2016, the Blue Cow is DFC’s symbol certifying products as made with 100 per cent Canadian milk and milk ingredients.

In this case, DFC said Thursday, the Blue Cow “assures Pizza Pizza’s customers that the mozzarella cheese topping they know and love is made with 100 per cent Canadian milk.”

The logo has been displayed on product labels and in campaigns by processors such as Agropur, Lactalis, Gay Lea, Organic Meadow, Fairlife and Bothwell Cheese, as well as by fast food chains such as McDonald’s Canada in a soft-serve ice cream campaign last summer.

In all, DFC said, the logo has been used by over 500 licensees, including about “three dozen” restaurant chains, on about 8,600 products.

“DFC looks forward to partnering with Pizza Pizza as it expands across the country, further supporting our commitments behind the Blue Cow that have made it one of Canada’s most trusted brands,” DFC president Pierre Lampron said in a release.

The logo, he noted, is recognized by “no fewer than nine out of 10” Canadians.

“Customers know the Blue Cow and now they can support Canadian farmers by grabbing a slice of their favourite pizza,” Adrian Fuoco, vice-president of marketing for Pizza Pizza Ltd., said in the same release.

Pizza Pizza, he said, is “a homegrown success story, enriching the livelihoods of over 700 local franchisees, and the Blue Cow reaffirms our strong ties to hardworking Canadian farmers and small business owners.”

The chain in recent years has built up backstories for several of its products and ingredients, billing its chicken products as coming from birds raised without antibiotics and fed all-vegetable-grain diets, and pizza dough made with 100 per cent Canadian wheat. It also committed itself to source egg ingredients from “100 per cent cage-free sources” by 2025.

The chain has also launched new products such as plant-based protein toppings and crust options such as a cauliflower-based crust and an “Uncrust” for keto dieters.

‘Food preparation’

The Canadian chain’s cheese sourcing hasn’t always been Blue Cow-grade, however.

Eight years ago, it was a sore spot with DFC and Canada’s provincial milk marketing boards, when the chain was found to be importing pre-packaged pizza topping kits combining shredded mozzarella and sliced pepperoni from the U.S.

The pizza kits at that time were classified for tariff purposes as a “food preparation” and thus weren’t subject to the tariff rate quotas (TRQs) imposed on dairy imports under Canada’s supply-managed dairy marketing system.

The dairy organizations at the time criticized the chain’s actions as “a blatant example of circumvention of the government’s tariff system” on cheese imports.

DFC and the provincial boards in 2013 tried to challenge the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) classification of the pizza kits at the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT), but were rejected for lack of standing.

Later that year, the federal government plugged that loophole by requiring that the cheaper U.S. mozzarella in such kits be classified under the tariff lines for fresh cheese, regardless of their packaging.

The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, a longtime critic of Canada’s dairy pricing framework, criticized the federal government at that time for having “suddenly shut down a pizza cheese import process that the courts have twice upheld.”

Deliveries up

In its year-end financials in early March, Pizza Pizza reported overall system sales of about $488.3 million for the year ending Dec. 31, down from $553.5 million in 2019.

Same-store sales growth was down 12.5 per cent in 2020 from 2019 on the pandemic-related loss of walk-in sales and “non-traditional” sales such as those from its kiosks at sports and entertainment venues.

However, the company noted an increase in delivery sales at its Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 stores alike, which “partially offset this reduction.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Olymel, the meat packing arm of Sollio Co-operative, reopened its plant at Red Deer this week after announcing Feb. 15 it would temporarily close the facility due to a major COVID-19 outbreak among plant staff.

According to local media, over 510 cases of COVID-19 are believed to be connected to the Olymel outbreak, including over 90 currently-active cases, along with the deaths of three plant workers and one other person. The provincial opposition New Democrats said Thursday three plant employees “are currently fighting for their lives in intensive care.”

Officials with Alberta Pork this week estimated the total slaughter backlog stemming from the shutdown at more than 100,000 hogs.

The new set-aside plan, to be cost-shared 60-40 between the federal and Alberta governments at a total budget of $4 million, is to support producers who had hogs booked for processing at Olymel in Red Deer between Feb. 8 and March 31 and held them back from shipping.

At the end of the program, eligible participants are to get payments based on the number of days eligible animals were fed within the scope of the initiative, up to a maximum of 23 days.

Applications are “tentatively” expected to be available March 12 through the province’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) and the program is expected to remain open until March 25.

For program purposes, “the first seven days of delayed marketing is not considered extraordinary, and is often a normal course of business for producers,” AFSC said.

There will be two components to the program: maintenance feed costs, and destruction and disposal costs. “We are currently focused on the maintenance component of the program, and will address emerging needs over the next month as the situation unfolds,” AFSC said.

That is, if slaughter capacity “continues to be an issue” and a producer can’t wait any longer to market animals, the second component would then compensate for “extraordinary costs associated with the humane slaughter and disposal of non-marketable hogs.”

“The AgriRecovery program is designed to help producers in emergency situations, and the shutdown of the Olymel plant certainly constitutes an emergency for Alberta hog farmers,” Alberta Pork chair Brent Moen said Friday in a release.

Many Alberta hog farmers ship to Red Deer weekly basis, the hog farmers’ agency said, and the shutdown left them carrying out contingency plans and “alternative solutions” for marketing.

Those alternatives “have created unexpected financial burdens for producers, especially related to additional feed costs and marketing charges over-and-above normal expenses,” Alberta Pork said, putting costs per producer anywhere between “a few thousand dollars (and) tens of thousands of dollars.”

The hogs covered under the set-aside must have been scheduled for slaughter at the Olymel plant at Red Deer between Feb. 8 and March 31, must be fed in Alberta and must have been delayed from shipping specifically due to the COVID-19-related plant shutdown.

Only market-ready hogs are covered, AFSC said Friday. That excludes boars, sows and any hogs not considered market-ready.

Set-aside participants will only need to provide one application per producer for the duration of the program, AFSC said. To be eligible, a producer must be an Alberta resident and either a Canadian citizen or permanent resident at least 18 years of age, or be a corporation actively operating in Alberta.

The producer also must have an Alberta Pork producer number and be responsible for paying the feeding costs of the eligible animals located in Alberta.

An eligible producer must report farm income and expenses in Alberta for income tax purposes, AFSC said. If not required to file farm income tax, an applicant must provide documentation showing production and sale of ag commodities.

“Alberta’s government is committed to protecting lives and livelihoods. We want to make sure that hog producers are getting the supports that they need so that they can continue to do what they do best, which is producing safe, high-quality food, not just for Alberta families but for families all around the world,” provincial Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen said in a statement Friday.

Meanwhile, Alberta’s NDP on Thursday called for an “immediate” public inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak at the Red Deer plant, and for a pledge from the provincial justice ministry that it won’t bring in legislation to “protect potentially negligent corporations from lawsuits launched by victims’ families.”

“People with no choice but to continue working in unsafe conditions have gotten sick and died,” NDP leader Rachel Notley said in a release. “We need to hold those responsible accountable and develop new practices to prevent tragedies like this in the future.”

Federal Ag Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, in announcing the hog set-aside program on Friday, said the government “also care(s) deeply about the health and safety of food production plant workers, who are doing essential work, and we have implemented a range of emergency safety and worker benefit programs to support their safety and wellbeing.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Federal Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau on Thursday officially announced the creation of the Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency (PRA).

The Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are now working with the Canadian Pork Council get the PRA established; it’s expected to be fully operational by the summer of 2021.

The idea of such an agency has been floated by the pork council for nearly a decade as a way to improve the current system used by the sector for promotion and research, characterized until now as a patchwork of efforts at the provincial level.

“The PRA will be an important vehicle for producers – it will help facilitate even greater collaboration across the value chain through increased research and promotion activities. In the long run, it will result in improving the long-term growth and competitiveness of the sector,” council chair Rick Bergmann said in a statement.

By receiving funds from a 75-cent levy on imported live pigs, and a charge on imported pork meat, the agency can provide $2 million in additional research and promotion, the council estimates.

The PRA is also authorized to have a levy on marketings of hogs in interprovincial or export trade. That levy would continue to be collected by provincial pork boards and a portion turned over to the PRA for national-level work.

The new organization will be led by the industry, Bibeau said in an interview Thursday.

“The federal government is not taking over in any way, it’s really their wish to join forces,” she said. “I believe working together, joining forces, there will be economy of scales in the type of initiatives they launch through the PRA.”

Canada’s nine provincial pork associations will be responsible for ensuring PRA dollars are spent effectively, while the national organization is expected to provide them with opportunities to collaborate on various research and development projects.

Canada’s hog producers last month called on the federal government to invest $50 million over three years to combat African swine fever (ASF). Since 2018, the disease has spread into several European countries and every region of China, but no cases have been reported in North America.

The new entity doesn’t come with that federal investment as requested, but Bibeau said the PRA will still help the industry combat ASF.

“They would have more resources to better prepare, get better organized, make more prevention activity — to first, obviously, try to avoid having this disease on our territory,” she said. “And if we have it eventually, hopefully not, but we would be better prepared to face it.”

Ottawa will have little, if any, say in where the organization directs its dollars. The PRA’s board will be made up of industry stakeholders, responsible for deciding how and where the money raised will be spent.

The promotion and research model has been tested in other sectors. The Canadian Beef Check-Off Agency, the only other such national promotion and research agency, generates about $7.5 million each year, funding projects to expand markets and increase sales.

Canada imported 157,026 tonnes of fresh and frozen pork in 2019 and another 233,699 tonnes of processed pork, mostly from the United States.

The 75-cent per head import levy, if fully passed on to consumers, is expected to increase pork costs to the average Canadian by six cents per year, based on 22 kilograms annual per capita consumption — a level which an FPCC panel reviewing the proposal considered to be “marginal,” the government said.

The CPC originally submitted its proposal to the FPCC in 2015 for creation of the PRA. The creation of the agency was proclaimed in the March 7 edition of the Canada Gazette.

— D.C. Fraser reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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Farmers’ organizations say one of the three laws could lead to the government stopping buying grain at guaranteed prices, a move that would disrupt wholesale markets which have so far ensured fair and timely payments to farmers.

President Ram Nath Kovind’s approval is likely to further stir protests, leading farmers’ organizations said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already lost a key political ally from the northern Indian state of Punjab, one of India’s two breadbasket states, where farmers form an influential voting bloc.

The country’s main opposition Congress party has also backed the protests.

Under the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill — one of the laws already approved by parliament — growers can directly sell their produce to institutional buyers such as big traders and retailers.

Nearly 85 per cent of India’s poor farmers own less than two hectares of land and they find it difficult to directly negotiate with large buyers.

Modi’s administration has clarified that the wholesale markets will operate as usual, and the government only aims to empower farmers to sell directly to buyers.

— Reporting for Reuters by Neha Arora and Mayank Bhardwaj.

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“Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter and sister,” Harsimrat Kaur Badal said in a tweet after tendering her resignation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet plans to make permanent three emergency executive orders introduced in June, which it says are aimed at giving farmers freedom to sell directly to institutional buyers such as big trading houses, large retailers and food processors.

Many farmer organizations agree that the new laws will remove an impediment to selling directly to big buyers such as Wal-Mart and Tesco, but oppose the legislation because they say that producers will be left with no bargaining power.

The laws also remove farm goods from the list of essential commodities and provide a framework for contract farming.

Badal was the only representative in cabinet from the Shiromani Akali Dal, an ally of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

She termed the three bills as “anti-farmer” in her tweet.

Badal’s party has a strong base in the northern state of Punjab, one of India’s two bread basket states, where farmers form an influential voting bloc.

Modi’s BJP enjoys an overwhelming majority in parliament, and the Shiromani Akali Dal hasn’t made it clear whether it would pull out of the ruling coalition.

Both houses of parliament still need to approve making the bills permanent.

India’s main opposition Congress party has also criticized Modi’s government for trying to change age-old rules that govern Indian agriculture.

Currently, India’s antiquated Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act (APMC) requires all farmers to sell their produce at the wholesale markets in most of the country’s 29 states.

Modi’s administration has clarified that the wholesale markets will operate as usual as the APMC Act hasn’t been abolished, and the government only aims to empower farmers to sell directly to buyers.

— Mayank Bhardwaj reports for Reuters from New Delhi; additional reporting by Neha Arora.

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“We’ve seen a very big spike in interest and demand for our products,” said Steph Campbell, who owns and operates Grazed Right, a grass-fed beef company, with husband Ben near Calgary.

“People are panic buying, and that’s spilling over into the local beef markets a little bit. People are looking to stockpile a bit more meat.”

Typically, the couple’s busy time of year is the fall, when their customers stock up on beef, pork, and chicken for the winter. But since the pandemic hit in March, orders and inquiries from new and returning customers have skyrocketed, she said.

“We’ve seen orders go up, and we’ve pretty much sold out of the meat we had in the freezer at this time,” Campbell said in early April. “People are buying in bulk — eighths and quarters and halves of beef — recently, so we’ve already pre-sold probably 15 per cent of our next year’s sales.”

In a followup on April 23, she said pre-sales had increased to 50 per cent in just two weeks, mostly from new customers.

“I think people are interested in being a little bit more connected to the food chain,” she said. “People are hesitant to go to stores, and supplies in stores are low as well. They want to be able to trust their food sources.”

That’s been Mike Kozlowski’s experience in the farm-fresh vegetable sector as well.

“Demand has gone through the roof,” said the owner of Steel Pony Farm, a community-supported agriculture (CSA) vegetable operation near Red Deer.

“I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls from people who want food right now, and I know it’s not just me — all farms that provide local foods are really being positively impacted by this.”

The pandemic is prompting more and more people to explore direct-to-customer food production, said Kozlowski, who farms with wife MacKenzie.

“For a lot of people who hadn’t previously been thinking at all about food security, it’s now on their radar, and it’s going to be important from now on,” he said.

“On one hand, it’s heartening, because I really feel like this could be a good move toward local, sustainable, secure food systems.

“But on the other hand, people are doing this out of fear, as a last resort, and that’s sad. It sucks to see people in desperation and fear.”

In the past, consumers largely viewed this type of community-supported agriculture as a luxury, in part because of the premium these farm-fresh foods command. But Kozlowski hopes that continues to shift once the pandemic passes.

“I’ve always had a sense of it not being taken that seriously by most people because we’ve got the grocery stores and that food supply,” he said.

“But I think what this is showing us is that we’re not invulnerable. In this case, it’s a global viral pandemic, but it could be a trade war, it could be climate change, it could be so many different things.

“If we don’t learn a big lesson from COVID-19, we’re going to have other harder lessons to learn in the future.”

And Kozlowski hopes that one of those lessons is localizing food supply a little more.

“Ultimately, I think the world would be a better place if we were all eating more from a local food shed,” he said. “We’d have more relationships with farmers, with each other, and with the land that feeds us.

“For all of us who do this, it’s our life mission to provide food for our communities. It’s just such a great feeling, coming into relationships with these people that we really want to be in service to.”

Campbell agrees.

“It’s making it more of a community-based food system instead of a national or international food system. I like that, and I think other people do, too,” she said.

“I’m really encouraged by the interest and demand, and I hope that people can keep this moving forward to support our little farm family and so many others like us.”

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