This extends the $250,000 limit, which was set in March 2025.

Producers can receive an additional $250,000 interest free on canola only for a total of $500,000.

“By increasing the interest-free portion of the Advance Payments Program, we’re helping farmers manage costs, while giving them more flexibility to market their products on their terms,” Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald said in an April 1 news release.

The program offers up to $1 million to Canadian farmers based on the expected value of their agricultural products. Twenty-four industry groups across Canada deliver the program.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture praised the extension of the $250,000 interest-free limit.

“Maintaining the $250,000 interest free portion reflects the realities farmers are facing today,” said CFA president Keith Currie.

“We are seeing continued volatility in input costs, supply chains and global markets, and this type of support is important in helping farmers navigate those pressures.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with government to secure a permanent increase to the interest free portion of the program, so that producers have the predictability they need to make informed business decisions in an increasingly complex operating environment,” he added.

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Sure, there’s a surge of potential revenue each year, but quickly followed by months of dry spell when a farmer isn’t generating anything new — and the bills for seed, fertilizer, fuel, pesticides are coming due,  many of them potentially piling up in waves.

Then there’s the surprise costs: machinery fixes they didn’t count on, an insecticide pass they really didn’t need the cost for, all before another cent of revenue flows in.

Even if they manage to clear all of that while staying in the black, there’s been the risk in the last few years that they might wake up tomorrow to find that international geopolitics have wiped out their market overnight, or sent the cost of their carefully planned inputs soaring.

For many Prairie grain farmers, the toughest financial stretch of the year comes months before a single bushel is sold.

Timing the cash flow crunch

“You need to have some means of carrying or financing that cost,” said Robert Misko, a Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) board member for the wheat and barley crop committee.

Fertilizer, seed and land costs all come due before farmers see any return from the crop. Input costs have also risen sharply over the past decade

“You’re looking at $500, $600 an acre to seed your crop,” he said. “And most of that is basically you spend it all before you get anything off.”

A cash advance as a financial bridge

A smart grain marketing strategy can spread out the cash flow and help farmers strive for the best possible financial terms out of a year. But organizations such as the MCA though point to another tool they think farmers should consider: the cash advance.

The federal Advance Payments Program aims to bridge the gap between revenue shots though short-term financing tied to the value of a producer’s crop. It’s backed by the federal government through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and delivered by administrators across the country, including the MCA.

Applications opened for this year’s program in early March.

“Farming is one of the most capital-intensive businesses out there,” said Darcelle Graham, MCA chief operating officer. “You’re making significant investments months before you ever see a return.”

The interest-free tug of war

The program announcement each year has led to a recurring tug-of-war over the interest-free portion of the advance. Financial pressures in several recent years had the federal government raising that bar to $250,000 and even $350,000, before bringing it back down to the standard $100,000, each time prompting a new round of industry advocacy.

In 2025, the federal government moved the line to $250,000 interest-free on most commodities, with another $250,000 for canola, which had been hit hard by Chinese tariffs. Maximum advances were set at $1 million.

The 2026 program has the government again bringing the interest-free portion back to $100,000 for most commodities, but with an extra $400,000 under that threshold for canola.

Past the interest-free portion, interest is set at prime, less 0.25 per cent.

The Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA), a major administrator for the program, said they’ll start distributing funds as early as April 1.

What farmers want changed

Graham said the program is designed to help farmers manage operating costs and avoid being forced to sell grain simply to meet short-term financial needs.

“What that means for you is lower costs, lower financial lower risk financing and delivered through a trusted framework,” she said.

But it’s also a program farmers would like some changes to.

Last year, industry welcomed news of a pilot program that gives a farmer’s application weight according to their past repayment history, potentially giving proven actors a faster line to the cash. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada noted that credit-worthiness pilot would let them allocate more time to farmers struggling to repay, without burdening those who had paid like clockwork.

David Gallant, vice-president of finance and APP operations with the CCGA, said at the time it was an ask they had been pushing the federal government to adopt for years.

Other proposed changes include earlier notification of post-announcement adjustments — such as those coming from the push and pull around interest-free portions — the adoption of an audit-based sale reporting system, and reducing priority agreement requirements.

More flexibility on marketing

Access to a cash advance can give producers more flexibility in deciding when to sell their grain. Many farmers want to avoid marketing crops during harvest, when prices can be weaker because of heavy supply.

“Take the cash advance that carries you through, that gives you that bridge,” Misko said. “And then when you sell your grain, well, you pay your advance back.”

Repayment is tied directly to grain sales rather than fixed monthly payments.

“The repayment aligns directly with your income, reducing pressure during tight periods,” Graham said.

Another tool in the toolbox

The advance payments program isn’t meant to replace traditional financing, Misko said, but to complement it.

“I would lean to say that it’s more on the complementary,” he said. “It’s just another one of the tools in in the process.”

Unlike some financing arrangements tied to production contracts, the program doesn’t require farmers to market grain through a specific company. The structure can also make it accessible for younger farmers who may not yet own land or equipment, as long as they own the commodity and have the right to market it, Graham said.

— With files from Jeff Melchior and Geralyn Wichers

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Health Canada, which oversees the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), announced Monday evening it has authorized a “time-limited and controlled” emergency-use registration for the rodent poison for those two provinces, running until November 2027.

WHY IT MATTERS: Other pest controls are available for use against gophers but farmers find strychnine both more effective and easier to use.

The new decision follows the federal government’s cancellations of all registered uses of strychnine in recent years, and a joint application for the product’s emergency use filed by the two provinces’ agriculture ministries last October.

PMRA had rejected that joint application in February, saying its proposals “did not provide sufficient means to address the risks of concern identified in the re-evaluation that led to strychnine’s cancellation.”

The earlier cancellations had been based on an updated environmental risk assessment, which had found no “practical risk-reduction measures to protect non-target animals” if they fed on strychnine-poisoned pest or predator animal carcasses or directly on poisoned gopher bait.

However, Health Canada said Monday, the two provinces last week filed a revised joint emergency-use request which includes “additional restrictions and mitigations … to lower the environmental risk to an acceptable level.”

The “significant” added measures in the new plan include a “reduced geographical scope” and “revised product stewardship program,” among others, Health Canada said.

Since strychnine’s uses were cancelled, farmers and ranchers have been raising concerns about on-farm efficacy of other products still registered for use against gophers.

The temporary use of strychnine will help farmers address “multi-million dollars worth of damage” in various crops from a recent spike in populations of gophers, a.k.a. Richardson’s ground squirrels, Health Canada said Monday.

Health Canada noted the Prairies have been experiencing “abnormally dry conditions, which (affect) the sustainability and quality of farmlands and allowed the population of these gophers to increase significantly.”

Reaction so far

“Saskatchewan producers have been clear about the challenges they face in managing gophers with the limited tools currently available,” provincial Agriculture Minister David Marit said Monday in Health Canada’s release. “We’re pleased to see the emergency use request granted as a practical opportunity for producers to demonstrate how strychnine can help protect their crops and pastures from continued damage.”

“Alberta’s producers have faced significant challenges managing (gophers) and the loss of this control method was difficult and costly for many in the ag sector,” RJ Sigurdson, Alberta’s minister for agriculture and irrigation, said in the same release.

“I’m confident that, with this effective tool back in the hands of our producers, they will be able to better manage their operations and reduce excessive crop and grassland losses due to the overpopulation of (Richardson’s ground squirrels) throughout the Prairies.”

“Innovative and collaborative efforts by all levels of government are needed to support the domestic agriculture industry especially during this period of uncertainty,” federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said in the same release. “Our governments’ shared commitment of supporting Canadian farmers, our economy, and food security led us to work together to address a compounding threat.”

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On March 22, the federal government announced it would develop such a strategy, calling it “an opportunity to discuss how we can address freshwater-related threats and opportunities,” protect freshwater ecosystems, and secure water for communities and the economy, according to a news release.

The Canada Water Agency, which was repurposed in 2024 as a stand-alone freshwater management agency separate from Environment and Climate Change Canada, will spearhead the strategy’s development.

While the announcement was scant on details of what such a strategy might look like, it said the agency will work with provinces and territories, First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners, “stakeholders across sectors” and the public.

Farmers should be among those consulted, the CFA said in a statement to Glacier FarmMedia.

“Water security is absolutely critical for the future of Canadian farmers. Farmers in different regions of Canada have been devastated by water issues over the past few years, such as the floods in B.C., or the ongoing long-term drought in the Prairie provinces,” a federation spokesperson said.

“A lack of water has severe negative impacts on any type of farm, no matter what they grow or raise.”

Prioritizing food security, agriculture

The strategy should protect farmers and mitigate the effects of water-related events. It should also secure predictable access to water so farmers can maintain food production — for example, through effective water management policies and investment in water infrastructure, CFA said.

“Farmers need to make it clear that food security and agriculture production should be prioritized if there was any issues with access to water.”

“Farmers are also on the front-line of climate change, dealing with the on-ground realities of water-related events,” CFA added. “They have experience and knowledge that will be critical in developing this strategy.”

While the announcement made no specific mention of the agriculture industry, the sector will have an opportunity to share its views during the public engagement process, “recognizing that freshwater is fundamental to our economy, powering industries, agriculture, and the growth of communities,” a federal spokesperson told Glacier FarmMedia.

The federal government has not yet set timelines for consultations, but said those will be announced “in the coming months.”

The post Get farmers in on federal water security strategy planning, CFA says appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Artificial intelligence, automation and data systems dominated nearly every session, from crop protection to robotics to biotech discovery.

However, beneath all that, one quieter theme kept surfacing.

Soil tests, weather stations, satellite imagery, equipment data is familiar ground for agronomy. What is changing is how quickly and how consistently that information can be processed.

In one session about biotech discovery, speakers described AI systems that can design and refine experiments with minimal human input.

It’s a long way from a Prairie field, but it’s easy to imagine that same approach being used to improve plot trials or even guide on-farm decisions aimed at maximizing yield.

And it is already happening.

On the farm, that same capability is showing up in decision support — not perfect, not complete, but improving. These tools are getting better at taking large volumes of information and turning it into clear, actionable decisions.

From interpretation to action

And that raises a fair question. If more of that interpretation work can be done by a system, where does that leave farm agronomists?

The answer is not that they disappear. It’s that the job shifts.

Research agronomists are not really in the crosshairs here. They are still building the knowledge base. The question is what happens to the people turning that knowledge into decisions on the farm.

That kind of agronomy has never just been about reading numbers off a report. It’s about context: knowing the field, the farmer, the equipment and the risks they are willing to take.

A recommendation generated from data still has to be weighed against reality. Is the field fit? Does the timing work? What happens if the weather turns? Does it fit the rest of the rotation?

Those are not problems that go away with better models. In some ways, they become more important because more recommendations are coming, faster and with more confidence behind them.

What these systems may change is how agronomists spend their time. Less time pulling data together. Less time building base recommendations from scratch. More time stress-testing those recommendations, adapting them to local conditions and helping farmers decide what to act on and what to ignore.

There’s also a practical layer to this that didn’t get as much attention on stage. These tools do not just appear on farms fully formed. They need to be set up, calibrated and understood. Someone has to translate them from a product into something that actually works in a field.

One discussion on soil health touched on a more basic issue: even something as fundamental as soil testing is not fully standardized. Results can vary depending on how samples are taken, handled and processed.

That is an opportunity.

It suggests there is still a role for the local private agronomist — someone who knows the region and their customers, understands local soil conditions, along with insect and disease pressure, and someone who farmers know personally and trust.

The role doesn’t disappear, it changes

It’s easy to frame new technology as a threat to existing roles, but agriculture has a way of absorbing new tools and reshaping the jobs around them.

GPS did not eliminate the need for farm agronomists. Variable rate didn’t either. They changed the conversation.

This one feels different. These systems are starting to take on the interpretation work that has traditionally defined farm agronomy. However, the pattern is familiar.

The technology is moving quickly, that much is clear. However, it’s still being tested against the same reality. Fields, weather and economics have a way of exposing weak ideas.

On-farm agronomy does not sit outside that process. It’s part of it.

If anything, the need for people who can bridge the gap between what a system suggests and what actually works on the ground will only grow.

The post How AI is changing on-farm agronomy and decision-making appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“These are challenging times, and KAP will continue working with the provincial government to advocate for Manitoba farmers,” Hornby said, adding that continued funding for loan programs, veterinary initiatives, improved insurance coverage, and new trade initiatives are all good news for the industry.

Risk management and lending improvements

The province’s budget, announced by Finance Minister Adrien Sala on Mar. 24, includes $143.7 million for business risk management programs, alongside expanded lending limits, new insurance incentives and continued cost controls such as a freeze on Crown land lease rates.

Vet recruitment funding welcomed by farm groups

Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) and KAP also welcomed new funding to support the Veterinary Medical Services Strategy, including $201,000 for tuition rebates, $100,000 for a veterinary recruitment program aimed at bringing newly licensed veterinarians to rural Manitoba, $50,000 for clinical mentorships to support internationally educated veterinarians, and $221,000 for the VetSTEP program.

“As a partner in the creation of the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Services Strategy, new funding focused on veterinary recruitment in rural areas and for clinical mentorships for internationally educated veterinarians, as well as increases to tuition rebates and summer employment opportunities, will help with addressing the veterinary shortage.”

— KAP president Jill Verwey

Beef producers applaud Crown land freeze and lending expansion

MBP also applauded the Crown land rental rate freeze (extended to 2026 last fall), support for the Livestock Predation Prevention Program, and more lending options through Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC), said MBP president Arvid Nottveit.

“The beef industry is a key economic driver in Manitoba, responsible for more than $900 million in farm cash receipts and helping to support many businesses and services,” he said. “We recognize the government’s willingness to support initiatives aimed at advancing Manitoba’s cattle industry.”

MBP plans to keep working with the province to tackle ongoing challenges, such as boosting inspection capacity, improving Crown land management, addressing wildlife problems, upgrading infrastructure, and shaping future policy.

Trade diversification moves to forefront

The budget also points to a stronger emphasis on trade, including plans for a new economic development agency and a forthcoming diversification strategy.

KAP’s current Agricultural Trade Action Plan lobbies the province to be proactive when it comes to market access to make sure the needs and priorities of producers are protected, Hornby said.

“We look forward to working with the government on its Manitoba’s Trade and Diversification Plan and urge them to have agriculture at the forefront of this plan,” he said.

Manitoba Pork general manager Cam Dahl echoed KAP and MBP’s positive notes on the budget.

“Manitoba Pork is appreciative of the provincial government’s ongoing commitment to supporting the agriculture sector, both through this budget and through their continued engagement on files like trade that are deeply vital to our sector.”

— Manitoba Pork GM Cam Dahl
Photo: Manitoba Pork Council

Tax, drainage and red tape concerns linger

It’s not all sunny news though. Despite the new spending in the budget, KAP says several longstanding priorities were not addressed, including tax, drainage and regulatory burden.

The group will continue to lobby for a tax credit program for young farmers, axing the educational property tax on farm properties and other initiatives that would cut down on red tape for producers, Hornby said.

“Additionally, maintenance of the drainage network continues to be a top concern identified by Manitoba farmers, and this will require enhanced investments to ensure a modern, maintained drainage network that works for Manitoba farms.”

Funding in the budget is intended to help producers manage volatility, including ongoing trade uncertainty and geopolitical pressures affecting input costs, Sala said.

“We’re doing the important work of making sure (producers) have adequate access to those programs we know will help our producers across the province.”

The post Manitoba farm leaders praise 2026 budget gains, but gaps remain appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Fertilizer shortages may lead to lower grain output through delayed or suboptimal nitrogen application and encourage farmers to plant less fertilizer-intensive crops such as soybeans, the report noted.

In the U.S., where farmers import up to 50 per cent of urea fertilizer in some years, spring planting could face challenges as supplies remain around 25 per cent below typical levels, according to The Fertilizer Institute.

WHY IT MATTERS: Nitrogen fertilizer prices have risen around 40 per cent since the onset of the conflict in the Middle East, intensifying financial pressure on farmers

Nitrogen fertilizer, which accounts for roughly 20 per cent of grain production costs, has seen prices rise 40 per cent since the onset of the conflict, Goldman said. A quarter of global nitrogen trade and about 20 per cent of LNG shipments — key for nitrogen production — transit the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked since the war in Iran started.

Supply disruptions could tighten availability and increase production costs elsewhere, the bank warned.

“Spare fertilizer production capacity outside the Middle East appears limited,” Goldman added, citing production constraints in Russia, which typically accounts for around 15 per cent of global nitrogen fertilizer exports due to facility attacks and export limits, as well as China’s likely extension of fertilizer export restrictions beyond August.

While U.S. farmers remain relatively insulated for now due to advanced procurement ahead of planting season, disruptions in Europe, Australia and the Southern Hemisphere could bolster demand for U.S. grain exports and raise U.S. grain prices, the bank said.

However, delays to March fertilizer shipments might affect April availability, compounded by the lack of U.S. strategic reserves or quick domestic production scalability.

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“It’s not something you do expecting recognition,” Braden said. “It’s just your life and your story.”

That story, built on expansion, diversification and a return to the family farm, earned the Oakburn-area couple the honour at a banquet held March 14 at the Elkhorn Resort, along with a trip to Vancouver for the national competition this fall.

From ag degree to home farm

Braden Drul’s path back to the farm wasn’t automatic, despite an interest in agriculture instilled early by his farm kid upbringing.

While completing an ag business degree at the University of Manitoba, he also explored other parts of the industry, like summer jobs with chemical companies and retail experience.

“I really took a liking to that,” he said. “You get to work with growers and retailers. I got to wear two hats.”

But a part of him was always drawn to farm life.

“I still kept finding myself pulled back to the farm, sneaking back to help,” he said. “Once I graduated, the calling was there.”

Misty Drul’s path was different. Raised on a farm near Sandy Lake, she pursued a career in health care, training as an X-ray and lab technologist at Red River College. She still works casual shifts, but stepped back as the farm expanded and the couple started a family.

With two young children and a growing operation, balancing full-time hospital work with farm responsibilities became increasingly difficult. Stepping back allowed her to stay involved in health care while taking on a larger role in the farm’s day-to-day operations.

Today, the couple farms alongside Braden Drul’s parents in a multi-generational grain and oilseed operation. It’s something he doesn’t take for granted.

That perspective sharpened in 2023, when his father was diagnosed with jaw cancer. He said the diagnosis hit hard and made him realize how precious life is.

“It’s an awesome feeling to work hand in hand with your parents,” he said. “Watching them be able to step back and enjoy life is one of the biggest rewards for us.”

Diversification builds farm for two families

When Braden Drul returned to the farm, one of his biggest challenges was figuring out how to make the operation work for two families. With increasing land prices and input costs, expanding acres alone wasn’t the answer.

Instead, the Druls looked for ways to diversify. In 2019, they launched an equipment assembly business, building a heated shop and pitching their services directly to manufacturers before the facility was even built.

“At first we got some strange looks,” Braden said. “We didn’t even have a shop yet.”

But the approach worked. Once the shop was completed, those early conversations turned into contracts, including work with Meridian Manufacturing.

The business now provides an additional revenue stream and helps stabilize the operation in ways a traditional farm often can’t. It has also allowed them to bring on more employees without putting the full cost directly on the farm, helping address the need for a more stable and reliable labour force.

They later added a Pioneer seed dealership, further expanding the business and building on Braden Drul’s earlier experience working with growers.

Managing the expanded operation

Diversification has also created new demands, particularly on the management side. Running additional businesses brings more administrative work, co-ordination with suppliers and customers and added pressure on time.

For Misty Drul, that has meant taking on more of the office and organizational role, especially now that their youngest child is in school.

“It’s busy, but we manage,” she said.

Planning for the sixth generation

Looking ahead, the focus is on building a farm that can carry forward into the next generation. The couple’s children are already involved in the day-to-day activity of the farm, with an emphasis on sustainability and making sure they have a real opportunity to be part of the business.

The Outstanding Young Farmers recognition has given the Druls a chance to step back and look at how far they’ve come. It’s also opened the door to new connections within the industry.

“It was very humbling,” Misty Drul said. “We met other couples who are successful in different areas of agriculture, and we learned a lot from them.”

For her husband, the recognition carries weight because of where it comes from.

“Being recognized by your peers is the biggest thing,” he said.

The post Manitoba’s Outstanding Young Farmers built success through diversification appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Until recently, moving a digital prescription from Bayer’s FieldView platform to a John Deere display typically meant downloading files to a USB stick and physically transferring them to the machine. Bayer and John Deere say a new integration between FieldView and John Deere Operations Center eliminates that manual step.

The companies announced the upgrade at Commodity Classic in San Antonio last month.

With the new workflow, users create scripts in FieldView, select the relevant files and click “Export to Work Plans.” The jobs then appear in Work Planner within John Deere Operations Center, ready to run on connected equipment — all delivered remotely from one platform to the other.

For Prairie grain producers using both platforms, that means fewer steps between agronomic planning and field execution.

In an emailed statement, Bayer Crop Science said the goal is to simplify job execution and monitoring for customers working across both platforms, while eliminating the need for thumb drives and other manual steps that slow down field activities.

Chris Winkler, vice-president of digital software and solutions at John Deere, said the integration responds directly to customer feedback.

“Our mutual customers want streamlined workflows, not extra steps in the cab,” he said.

In practical terms, that affects both set-up time and accuracy. Removing manual file transfers reduces the chance of loading the wrong prescription, misnaming files or configuring monitors incorrectly — issues that can affect variable-rate seeding, fertility or crop protection passes.

The integration also changes how data flows back to the office.

Once jobs are completed, as-applied information moves back through Operations Center and into FieldView, allowing farmers and advisers to evaluate performance and adjust future prescriptions.

The companies say the capability is the result of feedback from farmers and advisers who wanted platforms to work together more seamlessly.

For Prairie growers, where variable-rate seeding and fertility programs are increasingly common in crops such as canola, wheat and corn, tighter integration between agronomy software and equipment displays could mean less time managing files and more time focusing on in-field decisions.

The capability is currently being introduced to select U.S. customers, with broader availability expected in the coming months. The companies have not yet outlined a timeline for Canadian rollout.

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Most of those job losses, possibly 494, will be in the department’s science and innovation branch.

Those figures come from Agriculture Canada’s 2026-27 departmental plan, which was released in March.

WHY IT MATTERS: Deep AAFC cuts and closures, including the announced closure of AAFC Portage la Prairie in Manitoba, sparked sharp concern over the future of farm research in Canada earlier this year, although others have said there’s nothing wrong about trimming fat, if there was fat to be trimmed.

The 494 estimate comes from the Agriculture Union, which represents department employees.

Agriculture Canada is planning the following cutbacks, the plan says:

• 2026-27: $112,248,000

• 2027-28: $80,083,097

• 2028-29: $154,721,097

“It is anticipated that these spending reductions will involve a decrease of approximately 665 positions by 2028–29.”

The job losses are part of budgetary reductions at Agriculture Canada announced in late January.

At first glance, it seems like a high percentage of the job losses are directed at the science and innovation branch. The jobs being eliminated include lab/field technicians and the other staff who support the work done at the department’s research centres and farms across Canada.

Milton Dyck, national president of the Agriculture Union, confirmed that the majority of reductions are happening within the science division, but there’s a reason for that.

“Science and technology, by far, it’s the biggest group. It’s the largest holder of people in the branch.”

Therefore, if the federal government wants to cut costs at Agriculture Canada, it must reduce the number of employees working on science, research and innovation.

In 2024-25, Agriculture Canada employed 5,134 full time staff, says the departmental plan. Those people worked in four sectors:

• Domestic and international markets (563 staff).

• Science and innovation (2,621).

• Sector risk (412).

• Internal services (1,538).

By 2028-29, Agriculture Canada plans to have 2,125 people working in science and innovation, a loss of 496.

Most of the affected people will be support staff rather than scientists. The jobs eliminated will include technicians and field staff.

“(By) axing them, you’re ensuring that there’s no more science being done (in specific programs or locations),” Dyck said.

“You get rid of that middle group.… They’re not doctors, but they do a lot of the lab work and technical work and do the work for the scientists.”

As for cutting managers and administration and bureaucratic jobs, a bit of that is happening at Agriculture Canada.

The department plans to reduce the workforce in internal services from 1,465 this year to 1,297 in 2027-28, a loss of 168.

Cuts to international marketing?

The workforce reductions, closures of research stations and termination of other programs will allow Agriculture Canada to trim more than $650 million from its annual budget from 2025-26 to 2027-28.

Of those cuts, about $265 million will come from international and domestic marketing of Canadian agriculture and agri-food products.

Those cuts contrast with comments from Prime Minister Mark Carney, who frequently says Canada must diversify its trade away from the United States.

An Agriculture Canada spokesperson said the $265 million reduction can be attributed to a $131 million decrease in the Dairy Direct Payment Program, the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program and the Youth Employment and Skills Program.

As well, another $135 million decrease is from the end of Wine Sector Support Program and the Local Food Infrastructure Program, along with planned reductions to the Supply Management Processing Investment Fund.

The spokesperson said the government remains committed to trade diversification.

“The Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office (IPAAO) was opened in Manila, Philippines, in February 2024 and is a sign of our long-term commitment in the Indo-Pacific, along with the importance we place on building upon Canada’s reputation as a stable and trusted supplier for agriculture, agri-food and seafood products. The IPAAO will continue to operate.”

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