The good news is that corn across much of the region is all but done. Since the last meeting May 1, growers have made a collective push to get the last 30 to 40 per cent of the crop into the ground.

As a testament to cooler temperatures and improved plant breeding, those fields that were planted within the past two weeks have progressed to almost the same stage as those fields planted in mid- to late-April. That led one advisor to note that heat is the key, and that calendar dates play less of a role.

Another advisor stated that one field just north of London was already side-dressing nitrogen. One other report noted that corn planting in Eastern Ontario is now at roughly 50 per cent complete.

If there’s a downside to the corn picture, it came from several observations by CCAs that many of the emerging corn fields look "dirty." In the push to get the crop planted, growers opted to skip their herbicide applications, and as one advisor noted, in some fields he’s seeing a lot of lamb’s-quarters, and he’s expecting more in the weeks ahead.

On the soybean side, several advisors cited 90 per cent of planting completed in their particular area while most reports fell into the 60 to 80 per cent range.

Despite the fluctuating temperatures, this year’s planting is going well compared to 2011, when some growers were planting their soybeans into late June, with a few planting the first week of July.

Wheat

Much of the concern expressed during the meeting however, pertained to the status of the wheat crop. As noted at the start of the meeting, the crop looks very good. But OMAFRA cereal specialist Peter Johnson cautioned that from the road, most fields appear healthy and lush.

Once in the field, however, closer examination revealed that only the main stem is at its peak. The tillers are not progressing, and in some fields, he said, there’s a lot of brown leaf tissue beside the stem.

As a result, the Ontario crop is unlikely to reach above 100 bushels per acre and of added concern, the poor tillering could shorten the stems, meaning less straw and therefore tightening supplies.

On the plus side, a lot of spray applications were made this past weekend; advisors noted that there were more fields with tire tracks through them after Mother’s Day than before, and much of the spraying that was done was likely a herbicide/fungicide tank mix.

In some areas, the crop is a week to two weeks ahead of normal. Some fields in Lambton County are heading out and one field near Harrow in Essex County was sprayed with Prosaro at day 2.

As for other crop news from the meeting, edible bean growers are set to begin planting this week, weather permitting. But again on the downside, forages are going to be in particularly short supply, partly due to the weed situation with dandelion but also because of cold nights affecting growth in the crop. One advisor suggested taking the first cut, then plowing it down and planting silage corn if feed was needed, or even oats or peas.

Tree fruit

The worst news of the day came from the horticulture sector, where the frost on March 27-28 devastated Ontario’s tree fruit crop, to the tune of 80 to 100 per cent loss. Currently, only the Niagara region is said to have avoided widespread losses.

This actually represents the third consecutive year that there’s been frost damage to the fruit and vegetable crops in the province. As for this year’s production, dollar estimates are being pegged at $100 million, and that hit is to the growers alone. The effect it will have on farm market sales, agri-tourism, food processing and retail is unknown. In some areas, strawberries also suffered marginal frost damage.

Finally, it was reported that onion and celery crops are all but planted, and potato planting is underway in the Lambton and Norfolk County regions and should begin soon in the Alliston area.

– Ralph Pearce is a field editor for Country Guide at St. Marys, Ont.

CORRECTION, May 17, 2012: The previous version of paragraph 12 in this article incorrectly stated wheat crops in some areas of Ontario were a month to two months ahead of normal. We regret the error.

Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, wrapped up his official visit to Canada on Wednesday with a statement that credits Canadian farmers for their support of a national food strategy.

However, the Belgian human rights expert and university professor said Canada’s "export-led policies in agriculture have resulted in increased concentration, vertical integration and buyer consolidation in the agri-food sector."

Free trade deals, he said, have been "detrimental" to many farmers, whose "net incomes have decreased and whose debt has increased dramatically over the past decades."

Canada’s food safety regulations, De Schutter added, "do not meet the unique needs of less industrial, more seasonal, and alternative production methods."

"A thriving small-scale farming sector is essential to local food systems," he said, noting the work of "food policy councils and localities throughout Canada" to that end.

Such systems can deliver "considerable ecological and health benefits" for schoolchildren, "underserved" urban and northern communities and care home residents, he said.

However, he added, all levels of Canada’s government may be restricted in their use of "institutional sourcing" to encourage such a transition. He cited "legal requirements of non-discrimination" on public procurement and, possibly, the negotiation of free trade deals.

Initiatives to rebuild local food systems, ensuring "adequate incomes" for farmers and consumers’ access to fresh and nutritious foods, "were not sufficiently supported at (the) federal level" and are "currently under threat," he said.

The federal government, he said, had also moved to "gradually dismantle existing orderly marketing systems," such as the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk for Prairie wheat and barley, and to revise the Canadian Grain Commission’s governance and mandate.

Concentration in the ag sector has also left it "heavily reliant" on temporary foreign farm workers, about 30,000 of whom come to work in Canada under federal programs but are "in an extremely precarious position," De Schutter said.

"Tolerates inequalities"

"What I’ve seen in Canada is a system that presents barriers for the poor to access nutritious diets and that tolerates increased inequalities between rich and poor, and Aboriginal (and) non-Aboriginal peoples," he said in a separate release Wednesday.

The federal government, he said, should convene a national food conference that would clarify allocation of responsibilities between the federal level, the provinces and territories.

All political parties have expressed support for the establishment of a national food policy and the engagement of citizens through food policy councils is "truly impressive," he said, but Canada "must first recognize the reality of the challenges it faces."

Among those, De Schutter said 800,000 Canadian households are “food-insecure” but the government "fails to adapt the levels of social assistance benefits and its minimum wage to the rising costs of basic necessities."

Adequate diets “have become too expensive for poor Canadians,” he said, citing Canada’s obesity rates. The poor “have to pay the most when they live in food deserts and depend on convenience stores that charge higher prices than the main retailers."

De Schutter also called for reform of the Nutrition North Canada program that subsidizes retailers to serve remote communities.

"In particular, he is concerned that the retail subsidy is not being fully passed on to the consumer and that in the absence of adequate monitoring by those it is intended to benefit, the program is not achieving its desired outcome," the end-of-visit statement said.

He also called for "a structural approach to tackling the socioeconomic and cultural barriers to opportunities for those living on reserves."

"Official record"

Responding Wednesday, federal NDP ag critic Malcolm Allen said the rapporteur’s review shows the government is "failing to guarantee" Canadians’ right to safe and nutritious food.

The federal Liberals said last week that De Schutter’s next step will be a formal report to the UN Human Rights Council, "which will become part of Canada’s official human rights record."

"The fact that Canada is now the first developed country to be investigated by (De Schutter) is nothing short of a failure for the Harper Conservatives," interim Liberal leader Bob Rae said.

A spokesperson for federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Wednesday that officials from the ag department were booked to meet with De Schutter during his visit. No "formal request" had been made for De Schutter to meet with Ritz, the spokesperson added.

Related stories:
Canadian food bill holds steady for ‘Food Freedom Day,’ Feb. 11, 2012
CFA calls on politicians for leadership on farm issues, Sept. 22, 2010
Report ties improving farm income to improving foods, Aug. 20, 2009

Areas from Vulcan, about 130 km south of Calgary, past the Canada/U.S. border and down to Montana, experienced freezing temperatures for at least eight hours on the night of May 11. Temperatures reached as low as -4 C to a reported -8 C in some areas.

Troy Prosofsky, the Canola Council’s agronomy specialist at Lethbridge, said the damage could have been worse, but cooler temperatures in the days leading up to the frost hardened canola crops.

"With canola and frost occurrences it’s a function of how hot it was the day before, and then how cold it got, et cetera. So it’s those extreme changes that actually cause more damage.

Prosofsky said he scouted over a half a dozen fields a few days after the frost and saw some fields that lost 60 per cent of their plants.

"There was definitely a lot of high mortality rates in some regions. What I did find was no two fields were exactly the same. It was a difference of what stage the crop was, the topography, what their plant counts were, et cetera. However, despite the damage, there weren’t any fields that I saw that needed to be reseeded."

Neil Whatley, crop specialist with the provincial Ag-Info Centre at Stettler, recommended farmers wait at least four days to check their crops after a frost before taking action.

"If there’s still one or two per square foot, you don’t want to reseed. With canola you never want to reseed unless you’re down to about three plants per square foot," he said.

Prosofsky said at this point in the season it may not be worth it for farmers to reseed.

Research done by Ross McKenzie, agronomy research specialist for the provincial ag ministry, shows that in southern Alberta, 1.8 bushels are lost for every day crop is planted after May 1, Prosofsky said.

"If we’re seeding this late in the game, we’d already be losing 25 bushels of potential yield. So you’ve got to consider if I’m going for 65-bushel yield, and I only get 40 if I reseed. Or, if I lost 10 per cent, maybe I’m down to 55 bushels."

Prosofsky said it is important for growers affected by the frost to protect their crops from insects and disease.

Questioned Monday in the House of Commons by NDP agriculture critic Malcolm Allen, Ritz noted an estimated two-thirds of affected fruit growers, whose trees were pushed into early blossom by warm weather ahead of the frost, will be covered by crop insurance.

"We also have AgriRecovery, which will pick up the slack after that," Ritz was quoted as saying in the Commons. "There are a number of different venues open to farmers who have made use of those management tools."

Fruit growers in the province are "poised to lose tens of millions of dollars" to this spring’s frost, and apple growers alone are expected to lose about 80 per cent of their crop, Allen said.

Apple orchards in the Georgian Bay region and southwestern Ontario are expected to suffer the greatest damage, the provincial agriculture ministry said Thursday. Pear, cherry, peach, nectarine, apricot and plum growers are also reporting "significant damage" to their crops, the province said.

"The full extent of the province-wide impact will be known in coming weeks," the province said in a release.

"I know how much this loss means to the farmers involved, and not just in economic terms," provincial Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin said in a statement Thursday after touring an orchard at Beamsville, between Hamilton and St. Catharines.

"I will continue to closely monitor the situation as we work to assess the damage and develop strategies that will best support the industry."

Federal ag department officials have also been touring the area and looking over the crops, Ritz noted Monday.

In a typical year, Ontario accounts for 40 per cent of all the apples grown in Canada and the Ontario apple crop has an annual farm gate value of $63 million, with other tender fruits valued at about $40 million, the province said.

Allen, whose Welland riding is in the Niagara region, suggested in the Commons Monday that programs exist to deal with "minor losses" such as when a single farmer is hit with a bad season.

"However, when an entire sector is hit, like it is now in Ontario, special measures should be taken to ensure its future is not put at risk."

The company processes conjugated estrogen from pregnant mares’ urine (PMU) at Brandon to make the hormone replacement therapy Premarin, used to treat menopausal symptoms in women.

Pfizer said Tuesday it plans to cut about 50 of 130 positions at the plant "gradually through to the end of 2013."

The company said it "operates in a very competitive and challenging environment which requires a continual review of its operations to look for efficiencies and cost reductions by using our resources and technology more effectively."

Changes at the Brandon plant "will enhance the site’s competitiveness and best position it for the future," the company said.

However, this decision "will not impact the site’s rancher network who support the plant’s production," Pfizer said. The company sources raw PMU from a network of 26 equine ranchers across Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The Brandon facility was set up in the mid-1960s and became a Pfizer plant when the company bought fellow drugmarker Wyeth in 2009.

Wyeth substantially downsized its PMU ranch network in the first half of the last decade, as hormone therapy study data came forward from the U.S. government-backed Women’s Health Initiative and Premarin use and dosages were reduced.

The plant still distributes conjugated estrogens to markets worldwide including Europe, the Middle East, the Orient and North and South America.

Expectations for a large U.S. corn crop have led to ideas that the resulting decline in feed costs would encourage an expansion in the U.S. hog herd, according to some analysts.

However, "we haven’t experienced the same sustained level of profitability that our American counterparts have," said Tyler Fulton, director of risk management with H@ms Marketing Services in Winnipeg.

As a result, Canada would see a much more muted reaction to any expansion ideas, and likely hold steady overall. "It will take a little bit more to fill the optimism fuel tank, so to speak," he said.

The prospect of lower feed costs in the fall was making the outlook for the hog sector look a little better, but he added that any opportunities for expansion in Western Canada are pretty limited right now.

Fulton said the seasonal rally that would typically be seen at this time of year was not materializing, leaving the market relatively flat over the past month and a half. At this time in a typical year, the hog sector would see a 10 per cent rally.

Slower export sales, and concerns over domestic demand as consumers are not buying as much pork as they have in recent years, were accounting for the lack of a seasonal rise in pork and hog prices, said Fulton.

A larger-than-expected increase in the U.S. hog slaughter was also weighing on values from the supply side, he said.

Overall, Fulton said the western Canadian hog sector was still performing reasonably well, but it was not living up to the higher expectations seen a year ago when China was buying more pork.

Tom Halpenny, CEO of Mustard Capital Inc. at Gravelbourg, Sask., announced on the company’s website that MCI has "discontinued operations" as of May 4.

MCI announced in early February this year that it had filed a notice of intention to make a proposal to its creditors for restructuring of its debt.

The company, which at its peak was sourcing crops from about 250 Saskatchewan mustard growers, began work in 2010 on expansion into a second facility at Vanguard, Sask., about 55 km west of Gravelbourg.

The company had pledged $1 million to the project and also picked up just under $1 million in grants and repayable support from the federal government.

However, the company said in February, it soon suffered from a combination of "expansion cost overruns and operational losses from delayed development of its new capacity."

According to an April 5 affidavit from Halpenny, MCI got $250,000 in court-approved interim financing in February from one of its customers, Granosa AG — and since then MCI had "operated at a profit."

However, he said at the time, since February, MCI hadn’t come up with "any reasonable offers" from any interested party to buy, restructure or recapitalize the business, and the prospects of a new proposal for its creditors "have grown more remote."

The company had pledged in February to continue "business as usual" until the May 4 deadline for a new restructuring proposal.

MCI, which was a Canadian Grain Commission licensee until February, had said at the time it would provide security to farmers either by dealing through another CGC licensee or by paying cash for purchases.

Growers who’d delivered to MCI until the end of October last year were expected to get full compensation for payments they were owed, through the CGC’s payment protection program.

"Dedicated"

MCI’s Gravelbourg plant had used a "unique" milling process to produce yellow, oriental and brown mustard ingredients, mainly for use in prepared mustards, flavour enhancers, binders and extenders.

At Vanguard, MCI had planned to process "new and novel" products such as a "de-oiled and de-heated" yellow mustard.
"The shareholders’ belief in the company helped MCI establish a global reputation and build the business," Halpenny said on the company’s website last week. "The staff remained dedicated to the very last day of operation."

Mustard growers who supplied the plant "never wavered despite the public disclosure of MCI’s financial difficulties," he added.
Anyone with an interest in MCI’s assets or other details was asked to contact Ian Schofield, senior vice-president with Meyers Norris Penny’s (MNP) insolvency and corporate recovery practice in Regina.

Schofield was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.

Related story:
Insolvent Sask. mustard miller’s suppliers paid: CGC, April 23, 2012

Some canola-growing areas of southern Alberta logged temperatures as low as -8 C over the weekend, the council said, leaving growers wondering whether the crop could survive, whether they need to reseed and when or if they should resume weed control.

It may take a few days to accurately gauge a frost-touched crop’s survival rate, the council said.

Where the risk of crop damage would be "minimal" through a light frost of 0 C to -2 C, it would take time for new leaves to start emerging from the growing point between the plant’s cotyledons.

"If no growth occurs within this time, the plant is likely dead," the council said. "Also, if the stem is pinched off or the plant flops over, the plant will likely die. The pinched-off or broken stem cannot provide nutrients to the growing point."

Check the whole crop the day after a frost and three to four days after a frost to assess the situation, the council recommended.

If many plants have been killed, it takes a few days to determine the kill rate, which would inform a grower’s decision on whether to reseed a field.

"If one or two plants per square foot have survived and if that stand is fairly consistent throughout the field, the best choice is probably to leave it alone," the council said.

"A thin stand is not optimal for yield but a thin stand in mid-May may have better yield and quality potential than a reseeded field, particularly in southern Alberta."

If large parts of a field are lost, reseeding or fallow may be the only alternative for those areas, the council said.

After a light frost, spraying could resume after at least one night with minimum temperatures of 5 C — the minimum for biological activity to occur — and at least one day of warm and sunny growing conditions have passed. Warm and sunny conditions must also be present at spraying.

Growers also need to see no evidence of frost damage (such as blackening and water-soaked appearance) on the crop or the weeds before resuming spraying.

The crop’s condition must also be considered, because even a herbicide-tolerant canola requires that a plant’s metabolism work at full capacity to be able to effectively process the herbicide and prevent injury, the council said.

Growers will also want to consult their local product reps to see how or if a company will support the use of its product following a frost or cool temperatures.

However, some analysts are confident the fundamentals remain solid enough that any push lower in the cash market will only be temporary.

One farm source said he sold a good chunk of his new-crop canola on the weekend and was still able to get roughly $12 a bushel for that canola.

The reasoning given for the sale now was that the producer did not want to take a chance on new-crop values for canola dropping to $7 a bushel or lower in the fall.

"My thoughts are that farmers should not worry too much about new-crop bids," said Ron Frost, an analyst with Frost Forecast Consulting of Calgary.

He was certain that the market will be able to transition the focus back to the oilseed fundamentals instead of the macroeconomic issues currently generating the downward price slide in values.

"With basis levels remaining quite high and the strong usage pace of canola (both old- and new-crop) there is just not enough of a cushion within the oilseed complex (that is including the large U.S. soybean area) to allow the market to see bids drop much from where they currently sit," Frost said, noting this comes despite the possibility of a summer weather scare.

Frost acknowledged there probably still is a further $20-$40 per tonne downside risk in canola futures in the short term, based on the funds continuing to bail out of long positions.

"There will be plenty of opportunities to sell canola at the $12 per bushel or better level in the cash market, so I think it is time to ignore this washout in value by the funds," he said.

Frost added the tug-of-war between pretty tight, pretty positive fundamentals, against the recurrence of a bearish macroeconomic influence and the funds willing to sell, will continue for some time yet.

"However, I also think that this will sort itself out and once that $20 or $40 per tonne drop occurs, I am going to be ready to be a buyer again," Frost said.

Current cash bids for old-crop canola, delivered to the elevator in Saskatchewan, range from $12.14 to $14.13 a bushel, in Manitoba from $13.30 to $14.20 and in Alberta from $13.62 to $14.29, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data.

New-crop bids in Saskatchewan, delivered to the elevator, range from $11.94 to $12.30 per bushel, in Manitoba from $12.05 to $12.68 and in Alberta from $11.94 to $12.45.

The company said in a release that it presented its relocation plan, involving five other Olymel plants within a 100-km radius, to its Princeville bacon plant’s 180-odd staff and their unions on Monday.

"While some of the facilities were spared by the disaster, the extent of the damage is such that a resumption of operations in the short-term is not feasible," the company, which operates a separate primary pork slaughter plant at Princeville, said Monday.

The cause of the May 6 fire "is not yet known, and Olymel still awaits damage assessment reports."

The Montreal Gazette on May 7 quoted company spokesman Richard Vigneault as saying the fire took over 24 hours to extinguish after it was reported in the early hours of May 6. About 100 homes in the area were evacuated for most of that day.

The newspaper also quoted Surete du Quebec officials as saying the cause of the fire was under investigation.

Olymel said Monday it’s "not excluding any scenarios for the future" and added it’s "too early to make a decision as to whether to rebuild" at Princeville, about 80 km southeast of Trois-Rivieres.

St-Hyacinthe-based Olymel said it would take "exceptional measures" to offer to relocate Princeville staff members to its bacon plant at Drummondville, processing plant at Trois-Rivieres, hog slaughter plant at Vallee-Jonction, cutting and processing plant at Ste-Rosalie and ham boning plant at St-Hyacinthe, "all on a voluntary basis."

Staff who want to take part in the relocation plan, which "should be in effect until September," would get "hiring priority," Olymel said.

Staff who accept Olymel’s relocation offer would work under the employment conditions and labour agreements in effect in those plants, and would get transportation services between Princeville and the other facilities "where numbers warrant."

"Analysis"

Given the cost of rebuilding at Princeville, Olymel said it "must first conduct an in-depth analysis of market conditions" in the bacon business.

"Lower production costs in the United States have enabled U.S. manufacturers to offer fierce competition for domestic products both in Canada and south of the border," Olymel CEO Rejean Nadeau said in a release. "The parity of the Canadian dollar with the U.S. currency also has an impact on our exports."

Thus, he said, "our analysis should enable us to evaluate the possibility of combining the bacon production which was previously done at Princeville with other operations," or "changing the mix of operations at the plant" before making a final decision on the Princeville site.