Ontario’s Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal in December dismissed the NFU-O’s application for accreditation, cutting off its direct access to stable funding through the province’s farm business registration (FBR) system.

Ontario farmers must apply for an FBR number if they want to access certain provincial ag programs, and maintaining an FBR requires, among other things, that farmers pay $195 in annual dues to an accredited general farm organization.

The NFU-O, through its accreditation in previous years, has seen its FBR membership increase to 2,400 in 2012 from just 250 ten years earlier.

Now the NFU-O must rely on farmers to support it through refunds from the province’s two remaining accredited groups, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario.

The tribunal’s specific reasons for now rejecting the NFU-O were released just last month, describing the NFU-O as “so completely dominated and controlled by another farm organization (that it) does not represent farmers in the province.”

The tribunal said the Saskatoon-based National Farmers Union, not the NFU-O, has been representing farmers in the province through the NFU-O’s accreditation.

The NFU-O “carries out very few activities on its own and is essentially a legal conduit through which the NFU accesses stable funding,” the tribunal said.

But the NFU-O’s council disputes that interpretation and has now requested a meeting with Premier Kathleen Wynne, who’s also the provincial ag minister, to “discuss the issue of accreditation.”

Wynne and provincial ag ministry staff have already “supported the NFU-O’s position” before the tribunal, the NFU-O noted, “especially in interpreting specific sections” of the FBR legislation.

“It is completely inappropriate for three unelected appointees to tell our members how they should run this organization,” NFU-O local president Tony McQuail, a Huron County farmer, said in a recent release.

The tribunal, he said, “has completely misunderstood the relationship between the NFU and the NFU-O, and we are not going to change this to please an unreasonable tribunal.”

“Grandfathered”

“The original intent when developing the legislation was to have the NFU grandfathered in so that farmers could have a choice,” he said. “The minister (Elmer Buchanan, at that time) intended to have three organizations so that farmers could choose who best represents them.”

NFU-O president John Sutherland, in the same release, said the tribunal’s implication that the NFU-O has used “nefarious means to access stable funding” is “patently false.”

Citing the relationship between federal, provincial and local governments, Sutherland said the same is true of the NFU’s relationship with the NFU-O and the NFU-O’s locals.

“The tribunal has missed the point that we are all working for the betterment of Ontario farmers at every level,” he said.

Related story:
Ruling leaves NFU-Ont. seeking funds from refunds, April 27, 2013

Apple proliferation phytoplasma (APP), a yield-reducing quarantine pest in both Canada and the U.S., has been confirmed in Pacific Gala apple trees in the orchard near Kentville after being detected last year.

The affected trees were imported from the U.S. in 2008, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency emphasized in a release Friday that “at this time the actual source of infestation is unknown.”

CFIA said it has notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is now testing at the source nurseries.

However, USDA has said, no symptoms of APP have been observed in the source nurseries or reported in the U.S. at large. CFIA hasn’t yet imposed any restrictions on importation of apple trees from the U.S., USDA noted.

“At this time it is unknown if APP is present in any other areas of Canada or the U.S., or if this was an isolated incident,” CFIA said in a release.

That said, the agency is now consulting national stakeholder groups and the provinces on “potential regulatory actions” and will announce more information on those decisions at a later date.

Symptoms of APP include a “broom-like” appearance of branches, development of abnormal leaf clusters (leaf rosetting), reduced fruit size, weight and sweetness, and decreased overall tree growth and viability.

The pest has no effects on human or animal health, but given its effects on the fruit, APP is considered one of the most economically important apple diseases in Europe, causing economic losses of 10 to 80 per cent, CFIA said. There are no known treatments for the pest, the agency added.

The pest spreads through propagation practices, such as tree budding or grafting with infected material, so long-distance dispersal follows through the trade and use of infected rootstock, scionwood or budwood — and by way of specific insects. APP isn’t transmitted through seed, fruit or pruning, CFIA said.

Some branches on an infected tree may appear normal and produce normal fruit, while other branches show symptoms. Furthermore, symptoms can disappear for one or more years, then reappear after heavy pruning or grafting.

A type of froghopper and leafhopper known to be insect vectors for APP have been reported in British Columbia and Ontario, but their efficiency to spread APP in Canada is “unclear” and there are no other known potential insect vectors for the pest in Canada, CFIA said.

APP has previously been detected in Albania, Austria, the Balkans, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey and Ukraine.

The pest has been reported in Europe in other species such as oaks, hazelnuts, hawthorns, plums, magnolias, dahlias, roses and European and Asian pears, but APP’s impact on those “secondary” hosts remains unclear, CFIA said.

Farm Business Communications, Canada’s largest publisher of newspapers and magazines for farmers, and operator of this website, has a pair of free single-day show passes (value: $30 per pair) for you if you’re one of the first 82 people to contact us by e-mail. How? Keep reading…

The dryland farm technology show formerly known as the Western Canada Farm Progress Show is considered the single largest trade show in the country, drawing more than 800 exhibitors and over 43,000 visitors per year to Regina’s exhibition park, Evraz Place.

Attractions scheduled for the show, running June 19-21, include equipment demos, seminars, the Conexus Modern Lifestyles Showcase, the Alternative Energy Centre, the Livestock Centre, displays of antique tractors and trucks, and the announcement of Saskatchewan’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2013.

All you have to do to enter is click on the link at the end of this paragraph, type your name and exact mailing address (make sure to include both) into the body of the e-mail, then hit “Send.” If you’re one of our first 82 clickers, we’ll contact you by return e-mail within three business days and get your pair of passes to you via Canada Post right away. The entry deadline, if need be, is noon (Winnipeg time) on Tuesday, May 28. TO ENTER, CLICK HERE.

Remember: Eligible entries MUST include the entrant’s name and full postal address and postal code in the body of the email. Entries without that information will be disqualified.

Good luck! And if you’re at the show, do come visit us at the Farm Business Communications booth (No. 70182-70183) in the Credit Union EventPlex. We’ll be to your left at the EventPlex’s main entrance.

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Eligibility: This contest is open to all Canadian residents, ages 18 and older, excluding residents of Quebec. Limit two tickets per email address.

New-crop soybeans lagged to the upside, while rapid seeding progress across the Midwest caused corn to post small losses in the deferred months.

The spread between the old- and new-crop contracts is expected to continue to widen for both soybeans and corn, according to David Fiala, of FuturesOne in Lincoln, Neb.

For corn, farmers have made good seeding progress over the past week. While there may still be some seeding delays, the bulk of the corn crop was in the ground, and any rain at this point will be beneficial for yields in the long run.

Fiala said new-crop corn prices had more room to the downside given the good production prospects. However, the corn crop was planted later than normal, and corn likely won’t be available until three or four weeks later than it was in 2012.

“We have a tight old crop, and a late new crop, which means there will be a need to ration demand for the old crop longer than normal,” said Fiala.

July corn is currently trading at a US$1.28-per-bushel premium over the new-crop December. Fiala said the spread could widen out to US$2, and noted cash bids are already that far apart or more.

The situation is similar in soybeans, with tight old-crop supplies and expectations for a large new crop. Production issues over the growing season could lead to some choppiness in the new-crop contracts, but the market will need to work to shut off demand in the tightening old-crop stocks.

July soybeans were trading at a US$2.56 per bushel premium over the November contract on Wednesday. Cash bids across the Midwest were showing a spread of over US$3 in many areas.

– Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

Average spot bids for 13.5 per cent-protein CWRS across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta came in on Tuesday at around C$282 per tonne ($7.68 per bushel) based on pricing available from a cross-section of delivery points. That compares with $281 per tonne ($7.64/bu.) at the same point the previous week.

Basis levels improved slightly overall, with actual basis opportunities dependent on the delivery point.

U.S. wheat futures saw some mixed activity during the week. The July spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, off of which most CWRS contracts in Canada are based, was quoted at US$8.135 per bushel on Tuesday, up about one cent per bushel from the previous week.

July wheat in Kansas City, which is more closely linked to CPRS in Canada, lost around 28 cents on the week to trade at US$7.385 per bushel.

CPRS bids weakened over the reporting period, with average values at C$231 per tonne ($6.29/bu.), down from the $247 per tonne ($6.73/bu.) level seen the previous week.

Durum prices, meanwhile, were steady to as much as C$10 per tonne higher over the week, with spot bids ranging from C$275 to as high as $299 per tonne ($7.48-$8.14/bu.), depending on the location.

– Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

“Feed is really expensive these days, so producers are not going to purchase more,” said Glenn Friesen, forage specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives at Carman. “So, they’re going to get them out on pasture as fast as possible.”

The late spring, due to prolonged cold and wet weather in Western Canada has caused pastures to be ready later this year, and some producers in the eastern part of the prairies weren’t able to wait until the optimal time to put their cattle out to pasture.

“It’s a bit of a perfect storm with short feed supplies and a late pasture,” said Friesen. “Producers are trying to find alternative ways to feed the animals or are dealing with the consequences of sending to pasture a little bit too soon.”

Friesen noted he’s also concerned about some fields being damaged because they’re still too wet for cattle to be out.

“The water is there underneath the surface, so it’s a little bit soft and spongy in areas,” he said. “We’re precautioning people to be a little bit careful about that.”

A handful of producers in Alberta faces similar problems, but not to the same extent as in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, said Ken Ziegler, beef and forage specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development at Rocky Mountain House.

“There are always those that are a little bit shy on feed, and then there is of course pressure to get them out sooner in the spring,” he said. “But, as a whole as an industry, we’re not as severe as the folks towards the east.”

Producers in Alberta who graze continuously on the same pasture all season are still waiting to put cattle out for the most part, while those who rotate between pastures already have them out.

Producers who continuously graze are still feeding hay to their cattle, he said, and they should have enough supplies to hold them until the next crop is harvested.

Producers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are tighter on hay supplies, and are hoping for a good crop this year to replenish inventories.

Hay stands

New-crop hay production looks like it’s off to a good start across all three Prairie provinces, as large amounts of snowfall over the winter were beneficial.

Kevin France, provincial forage specialist with the Saskatchewan ministry of agriculture in Regina, said he hasn’t heard of any reports of winterkill damage yet this year.

Reports of winterkill in Alberta and Manitoba have been few and far between as well.

The large amounts of snowfall seen across the prairies this winter were also beneficial for soil moisture, which is benefiting forage and hay crops this spring.

The late spring may have some adverse affects on yields, but it will all depend on what happens during the summer growing season.

“It’s hard to tell now if the late spring is going to be a problem,” said Friesen. “One would think that that should reduce the yield but I’ve been around long enough to know that once the heat comes, the hay crops can catch up fairly quickly.”

– Terryn Shiells writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

Uralkali is aiming to become the largest global producer of potash by 2021, leapfrogging Canada’s PotashCorp in mining capacity.

But BHP’s not-yet-final plan for a mine near Jansen, Sask., that would produce eight million tonnes annually, would change the global supply and demand picture so dramatically that Uralkali would rein in its own expansion plans if BHP goes ahead, CEO Vladislav Baumgertner said in an email exchange with Reuters this week.

“This uncertainty is mostly due to (the) BHP project,” Baumgertner said. “If Jansen is developed, then we will postpone the realization of Solikamsk-3 expansion and Polovodovsky by five to 10 years.”

Uralkali is the second major potash producer in a week to highlight BHP’s decision as pivotal to its own expansion plans, as miners aim to avoid a glut of the pink or white crop nutrient, which is produced mainly in Canada and Russia.

U.S.-based producer Mosaic Co. told Reuters last week that it would reconsider a decision to shelve its Canadian potash expansion if BHP scuttles Jansen.

The US$1 billion Solikamsk-3 mine expansion would add two million tonnes of annual capacity, and the new Polovodovsky mine would cost an estimated $2.4 billion to build and increase Uralkali’s capacity by 2.5 million tonnes. Uralkali has not yet completed feasibility studies on the projects.

Uralkali expanded its Berezniki-4 mine last year by 1.5 million tonnes of annual capacity and is planning a new mine, called Ust-Yayvinsky, that would yield 2.8 million tonnes per year.

BHP spokesman Ruban Yogarajah said the company’s forecast on Jansen has not changed — BHP has said its board will decide whether to fully approve the project in its next fiscal year, which starts July 1.

“Likely shelved”

BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie briefed analysts in Australia on Wednesday, and some concluded that Jansen, which industry sources have estimated to cost US$14 billion, may not proceed.

“Jansen looks likely to be shelved,” J.P. Morgan in Australia said in a research note, adding that Mackenzie told analysts that approved expenditures on the project will run out in the next few months.

BHP, like other miners coping with an uncertain global economy, is scaling back capital projects. The company expects to spend US$18 billion in capital and exploration work in 2014, down from $22 billion this year, and with a target of $15 billion annually by 2015, according to a note from Investec Securities, so Jansen will have to compete for funds with other projects.

Jansen “is clearly the biggest decision Andrew Mackenzie has to make, and so early into his term,” said an industry source familiar with BHP. “I can think of more ways Andrew can get this wrong, than get it right. If you ask him what keeps him up at night, he will say Jansen.”

Potash, used as crop fertilizer, animal feed and for industrial use, is a key nutrient for maximizing yields of crops such as corn and rice, by improving root strength, disease resistance and water retention.

– Rod Nickel is a Reuters correspondent based in Winnipeg.

“There is zero possibility that the U.S. will be in compliance” by Thursday, May 23, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said in a statement.

“The question is, will they be maintaining the current status quo level of non-compliance or will they make it worse by implementing (the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s) proposed regulatory amendment?”

Panned by U.S. packers and Canadian and Mexican exporters since its launch in 2008, Washington’s COOL rule was substantially shot down by the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body and Appellate Body in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

The WTO has given the U.S. until Thursday to either bring COOL into compliance or face the possibility of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico.

COOL orders U.S. retailers to notify their customers, by way of labeling, on the sources of foods such as beef, veal, pork, lamb, goat, fish, fruits, vegetables, peanuts, pecans and macadamia nuts.

In the wake of the WTO bodies’ rulings, the U.S. government in March proposed revisions to COOL which, if passed, will require even more specific labels for meat according to individual steps of production.

The regulatory proposal moved “a step closer to implementation” on May 10 when USDA submitted it to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval to publish as a final rule, the CCA said.

USDA’s March proposal, the CCA noted, is now designated as “economically significant,” which means the department now acknowledges the cost of the proposal will affect over US$100 million of commerce.

“Such a designation should mean that the rule is subject to a more rigorous inter-agency review process and that there must be a mandatory 60-day delay following final publication before the rule can come into force,” the CCA said.

“We will see whether USDA finds a way around these additional requirements or if the earliest the rule could come into force is late July.”

If the latter, the CCA said, the U.S. would have “no counter-argument” if Canada were then to assert at the WTO that the U.S. has failed to comply on COOL. Canada, the CCA said, would then be able to “immediately request compensation or authority to retaliate.”

“Potential targets”

It’s now possible, however, that the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives may also consider addressing COOL, as both houses of Congress are expected to consider a new U.S. Farm Bill within the next couple of weeks.

However, the CCA believes U.S. lawmakers will only deal with COOL in the Farm Bill “if they believe that retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports are being considered by Canada and Mexico.”

Canada’s International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz were are reported to be working toward having the Canadian government publish a list of U.S. products that would be “potential targets,” the CCA said.

The association said it expects “products made in areas represented by U.S. lawmakers opposing a resolution of the COOL dispute would find their way onto such a list.” Retaliatory tariffs from Canada are expected to run up to about $1.1 billion.

CCA president Martin Unrau said in a release Tuesday that a CCA delegation “had the opportunity to meet directly this morning with Mexican Agriculture Secretary Enrique Martinez and I asked him to work with (Ritz) on this important matter.”

Martinez, Unrau said, “indicated that he was already coordinating closely with Minister Ritz and that we could expect a strong Mexican response to U.S. non-compliance.”

Related story:
COOL changes expected to worsen financial damage, April 12, 2013

Negotiations aimed at ending the work stoppage in the main grains hub of Rosario and other smaller ports are set for Thursday. Strikes are common in the South American country, where double-digit inflation fuels high wage demands.

But this one comes at a sensitive time for grains powerhouse Argentina, as farmers finish harvesting their 2012-13 soybeans and corn. The country is the world’s No. 3 exporter of both crops, and its No. 1 supplier of soyoil and soymeal.

“Ships already in port are being prevented from setting sail and those still in open sea cannot arrive at harbour,” said an industry source with direct knowledge of the situation but who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“The logistical problems are causing associated business losses and port-side grains warehouses are reaching capacity,” the source said. “At least 50 ships are stalled in the greater Rosario area with another 50 affected on the high seas.”

Agriculture is a top source of foreign currency for the financially troubled country, which has been locked out of international capital markets since its 2002 sovereign debt default.

As stocks of corn and soybeans in the United States run low ahead of the autumn harvest, global importers rely more heavily on South American supplies.

The U.S. grain stockpile is particularly low this year after drought parched the Midwest farm belt in 2012, with soybean stocks projected to shrink to a nine-year low and corn to a 17-year low by the end of August.

About 80 per cent of Argentine grains and oilseeds leave from Rosario, located on the Parana River. Unionized workers are needed to manage the entrance and exit of each ship from the constellation of ports that make up the Rosario hub.

A Buenos Aires-based source at a major exporting company said he agreed that about 100 cargo ships — including those in Rosario, those stopped along the Parana River and those waiting to enter the waterway from the high seas — were delayed.

“We are at a high point in the harvest season, so the number of ships coming and going is relatively high,” the trading source said, also on condition of anonymity.

The agriculture ministry estimates a 2012-13 soybean crop of 51.3 million tonnes and a corn harvest of 25.7 million tonnes.

– Hugh Bronstein is a Reuters correspondent in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Additional reporting for Reuters by Maximilian Heath in Buenos Aires and Karl Plume in Chicago.

June and July hogs broke through their respective 100-day moving averages of 92.93 and 92.95 cents per pound, which stirred short-covering (all figures US$).

CME June hogs closed up 2.15 cents to 94.55 cents and July ended at 93.425 cents, up 1.675 cents.

Strong wholesale pork prices, the result of grocers and restaurateurs topping off inventories for the May 25-27 U.S. Memorial Day holiday, encouraged June futures’ buyers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wednesday afternoon mandatory wholesale pork price, or cutout, calculated on a plant-delivered basis was $94.34 per hundredweight (cwt), up 65 cents
from Tuesday.

June hogs benefited from bullish spreads with traders buying nearby months selling deep deferred months as corn prices rallied. Cheaper corn might cause livestock producers to feed more hogs and cattle and to heavier weights.

CME hogs in after-hours trading eased from session highs following USDA’s monthly cold storage report. The data showed April pork stocks at 698.8 million lbs., the highest ever for the month.

“This is a clear record for the month of April, blowing by last year’s 660 million-lb. record. The only thing we can talk about here is the loss of exports, particularly to Russia,” said Allendale Inc. chief strategist Rich Nelson.

Russia in February banned U.S. beef, pork and turkey imports over a dispute about the feed additive ractopamine — a growth stimulant to make meat leaner.

Cattle drop with cash

Despite record-high beef values, CME live cattle futures fell in response to lower preliminary cash cattle prices, traders and analysts said.

A light number of cash-basis cattle in Texas traded at $124/cwt, down $1 from last week, feedlot sources said. Cash bids and asking prices elsewhere in the state and the U.S. Plains stood at $127, they said.

“The cutout continues to put up records but packers are buying for a holiday-shortened kill week next week,” said EBOT Trading analyst John Kleist.

USDA data on Wednesday afternoon showed the wholesale price of choice beef, or cutout, up 54 cents to $211.20/cwt, edging out the previous high of $211.04 set Wednesday morning.

June and August live cattle losses mounted after both months fell below their 10-day moving averages of 120.29 and 119.95 cents, respectively.

June cattle closed at 120 cents, 1.1 cents/lb. lower, and August ended down 1.15 cents at 119.225 cents.

The U.S. government’s storage report pegged beef stocks last month at 510 million lbs., down slightly from March and two per cent from last year.

“The year-over-year decrease fits in with a normal demand month which is actually good news,” said Allendale’s Nelson.

CME feeder cattle slumped with the lower live cattle market. Traders also cited higher corn prices that could curb feedlot demand for younger cattle.

Spot May, which will expire on Thursday, closed down 0.275 cent/lb. to 131.625 cents.

August settled at 144.325 cents, down 2.15 cents, and September finished down 2.2 cents to 146.7 cents.

– Theopolis Waters reports for Reuters from Chicago.