Agriculture ministers and farmers are concerned about the “loosely defined” environmental requirements on agriculture from implementing the federal Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP).. Farming .On April 1, the SCAP takes effect, but Saskatchewan did not sign the new 5-year agreement as it needs to go in front of the Saskatchewan cabinet in February for approval..Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit met with his fellow provincial and territory agriculture ministers on a conference call and expects all the provinces and territories to sign SCAP by the end of March when the previous five-year agreement ends..Marit and the other agriculture ministers are “concerned about the environmental aspects” of federal agriculture policies and their effect on farming operations..READ MORE New 5-year agricultural deal reached between federal government and provinces.Western Canadian Wheat Growers Saskatchewan Director Daryl Fransoo said farmers need more details about SCAP and that the government needs to stop putting “ideological beliefs” before feeding people..“There’s sooo few details out about it right now that I’m trying to figure out to say. A few priorities are good but tying absolutely everything to sustainability when we haven’t even defined that is foolish,” said Fransoo..“Food will be more scarce and way more expensive if the government continues to impose their ideological beliefs on our farming system.”. Farm FieldsFarm fields .In the new SCAP, the AgriStability compensation goes up to 80% from 70% in the previous agreement, which is a positive aspect of the new agreement, according to the agriculture ministers..Each province signs its own SCAP agreement with the federal government, as some programs only apply to certain areas and not the entire country..At the agriculture ministers July meeting in Saskatoon, they were reviewing business risk management programs and how climate risk needs to be included in a complete risk management program..Starting in 2025, any farm taking part in the AgriInvest programs with at least $1 million in sales will require an Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) to receive the federal government’s contribution..Marit said he “hopes the provinces have some control on how the assessments (EFP) are done.”.Other than the new SCAP, Marit is concerned about the federal non-binding policy of reducing fertilizer by 30% and why farmers are “not credited” for the reductions they already made..READ MORE Ag minister says 30% fertilizer reduction target is voluntary.Another issue concerning Marit is the cost of food in the grocery store and the development of a Grocery Code of Conduct (GCC), which is currently underway..The GCC’s purpose is to make the food supply chain more predictable, transparent, and fair to consumers..Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Quebec Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne in a statement said “substantial progress they have made in developing Canada’s first-ever Grocery Code of Conduct.”
