“The [Sustainable Agriculture Strategy] is and can be a big opportunity, and organic and regenerative have a lot to offer,” said Katie Fettes, COG’s director of policy and research, in an online presentation yesterday.

The federal strategy, announced in late 2022, is touted as positioning Canada to be a world leader in sustainability.

COG is a member of the strategy’s advisory committee, along with multiple producer groups, conservation groups, and the Manitoba Metis Federation, which Fettes said has coordinated Indigenous community engagement.

Following public consultation, the federal government published a ‘What We Heard’ report late last year.

Fettes said the strategy is forming around six principles: supporting productivity (i.e. economics and profitability), forward thinking, respecting regionality, integration and collaboration, inclusivity (e.g. recognition of Indigenous groups’ interests, the diversity of farmers across operational scales, demographics, etc.), and basis in evidence.

COG and its partners in the organic sector have been making the case that organic producers can fulfill some of the goals of the strategy, Fettes said.

For instance, while ecological practices aren’t exclusive to organic farming, organic farms often “can’t do without them,” she said.

The sector’s third-party verified system also has built-in incentives to help maintain those ecological practices.

“We don’t just want to see uptake of practices. We also want to see them maintained and built upon,” Fettes said.

Other key messages have included the need for the strategy to include multiple pathways for a diverse Canadian agricultural sector; that systems-based approaches like organic are complementary to the strategy; and that the demand for organic food is outpacing the Canadian supply.

Ahead of the next meeting to discuss the strategy, COG is asking for producer feedback via a survey on their website. The deadline for that survey is June 7.

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The three-year project is funded by SaskOrganics, the Prairie Organics Development Fund, and will be conducted by organics researcher Martin Entz at the University of Manitoba.

“We want to help farmers understand how soil health interventions that they may be interested in and are employing on their organic farms actually affect the soil health and the productivity of their systems,” Entz said.

To be eligible, farms must either be certified organic or transitioning to organic and must be implementing some sort of soil best management practice on their farm—e.g. a new cover crop. While the study is spearheaded by Prairie groups, farmers across Canada can apply, Entz said.

Farmers will be guided to send in soil and biomass samples from the area on which the management practice is applied, and from untouched soil. Samples will be lab tested, either at the University of Manitoba or other participating labs, Entz said. The farmers will then be sent reports of the results.

There is no charge for participation.

While the goal is to provide benchmarks for individual farms, Entz added, the tests will add data to their pool of knowledge and may reveal patterns.

Interested farmers should contact SaskOrganics at admin@saskorganic.com.

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“Commodities, in general, have traded sideways to slightly lower over the last year, year-and-a-half,” said Kelly Cornelius, grain procurement specialist for Grain Millers in Yorkton, Sask. “Likely we’ll see a bit of a bump in pea production … I don’t expect to lose oat acres. If anything, we’re looking to gain. But there’s still a lot of time to shift acres.”

He added that conditions are dry in Saskatchewan, especially in the western half of the province. However, major snowfalls over the course of the winter have helped to replenish moisture levels in the southeast.

Ken Richmond, a farmer from St. Andrews, Man. and procurement manager for Regina-based O&T Farms, said some areas in southern Manitoba are in better shape than they were in February. He said growers have plenty to consider due to less demand, conventional price declines from last year and elevated equipment and fuel costs.

“Income is going to be lower. There’s no doubt about it,” Richmond added. “Some farmers are still thinking about C$70 to C$80 (per bushel organic flax prices) from last year. That’s not going to happen. Especially with the outlook on the moisture a little bit better now. I think we’re stuck in a zone now where (prices) are going to stay.”

Jason Breault of RW Organics in Mossbank, Sask. heard about potential seeding for spring wheat, oats and barley. However, slow demand and grain supplies augmented by imports are causing some buyers to look ahead all the way to January 2025. Despite this, Breault believes weather will become a catalyst.

“If it stays dry, (buyers) will probably want a little more (grain) if they’re worried about drought. If we get some moisture, people will back off again,” he said.

As dry conditions persist, Organic Council of Ontario director-at-large Rob Wallbridge said there is still time for much-needed moisture heading into seeding. But while commodity markets stay quiet, growers may choose the familiar.

“We’ll probably see more spring cereals and peas planted than normal, especially if the dry weather holds. But without any clear signals from the market, most farmers will stick with their traditional rotation,” he said.

Harro Wehrmann of Wehrmann Grain and Seeds in Ripley, Ont. repeated Wallbridge’s sentiment. He said most winter grains survived cool temperatures during the month of March, but he doesn’t expect the local organic market to pick up activity until May at the earliest.

“Buyers are just going to wait and see what the mood of the consumer is,” Wehrmann said. “I reckon that feed grains will see hand-to-mouth buying … For specialty crops, I think bids will start coming in as consumption patterns become evident and companies are going to want to secure supply.”

The Prairie provincial organics organizations held their respective annual general meetings near the end of the month.

The Manitoba Organic Alliance held its 2024 AGM in Portage la Prairie on March 20, where the organization voted to change its name to Manitoba Organics. Executive director Marika Dewar-Norosky said the new name will also go along with changes to its website and logo.

“It aims to enhance clarity, branding, and recognition, making communication easier,” she said. “Additionally, aligning our name with similar organizations (SaskOrganics and Organic Alberta) helps to create consistency and unity within the organic community across Western Canada.”

Organic Alberta had its AGM done virtually, also on March 20. The organization will co-host the 2024 La Crete Organic Farming Conference and Trade Show at the La Crete Heritage Centre on April 11.

SaskOrganics’ AGM coincided with the Advancing Organics and Trade Show on March 27 and 28 in Saskatoon. The event included 30 exhibitors as well as more than a dozen sessions featuring speakers across the Prairies with expertise in various topics including brewing, weed management and mental health. A scholarship and awards banquet also took place.

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“There’s people coming in and there’s people going out,” said Tia Loftsgard, executive director of the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA).

Loftsgard presented COTA’s 2022 organic industry statistics in a webinar on Oct. 20. COTA collects and analyzes data from several industry sources to get a picture of the sector.

In 2022, there were 7702 organic operators, down from 7998 the previous year, said Loftsgard, including 33 fewer farms. This is the first time they’ve seen a decline in operators, she added.

However, the total is still above 2020 numbers of 7624 operators. There were seven fewer organic livestock farmers in 2022 than in 2021, she said. This continues a downward trend, which Loftsgard said they’d need to investigate and address.

That said, total organic acreage was up to 3.8 million acres, from 3.1 million acres in 2021 though down from the 2020 high of just over 4 million acres.

Forty per cent of these acres were forage, green manure and natural areas; 26 per cent was field crops, 20 per cent fruits and vegetables, with the rest in aquaculture plants, maple, and wild harvest.

Wheat and oats were the main organic cereals grown, with just over 311,000 acres and just over 281,000 acres respectively. Producers also grew more than 54,000 acres of corn. Organic pulses were largely split between lentils, with nearly 40,600 acres; chickpeas, with nearly 41,500 acres, and peas, with nearly 31,000 acres. Nearly 108,000 acres of organic soybeans were grown in 2022, with flax trailing at over 52,000 acres grown, and more than 15,000 acres of mustard.

The vast majority of organic livestock was poultry, with about 4.3 million head. Pigs were a distant second with around 293,000 animals, and about 39,000 cattle and other bovine animals.

Total organic sales in 2022 was $10.26 billion, with $7.94 billion in food and beverage sales, up from $9.35 billion in sales in 2021 and $7.24 billion in food and beverage sales.

—Geralyn Wichers writes for Glacier Farmmedia from Steinbach, Manitoba.

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