As Ottawa boosts loans for farmers, Sask. producer optimistic China will soon lift ban

For weeks, Moe and his government have pushed for the federal government to help out canola farmers by boosting the loan limit in the APP. Last week, Moe sent a letter to the prime minister, essentially asking him what was taking so long.

Moe said he’s happy with the move.

“I think, in fairness, the federal government has shown that they do support western agriculture, and Canadian agriculture by extension,” Moe said. “I’ve always said we’ll call ’em as we see ’em and we are appreciative that (the federal government has) moved forward with this plan.”

Jason Loewen, who grows canola south of Spiritwood, has reduced some of his crop this year as a result of China’s current ban on canola, but remains hopeful for the future.

Loewen usually grows about 1,500 acres of canola but has reduced his crop to 1,000. Instead he is growing more wheat crop to make up for the loss.

He remains cautiously optimistic nonetheless.

“They will come back,” he said. “Everything will come back. If one country doesn’t buy it, then the price goes down. Then, other countries will buy it which raises the price again.”

Loewen is still able to sell his canola to local elevators, he said, so that is not an issue.

“They still buy it. The price may drop a bit for a short while, but it will bounce back,” he said. “It always does.”

The producer also grows peas, which have come under scrutiny by the Chinese as of late as well. His pea crop is not very big, only about 500 acres at most, so he said it is not a significant concern for him.

Further, Loewen doesn’t believe China is not accepting canola due to pests in the product. Rather, he suspects China’s decision is politically motivated.

“If there was something [wrong], there would be evidence of it,” he said, adding Canada has strict shipping policies for product. “Everything is inspected before it gets sent out. So it’s an excuse.”

While the ban is on, Loewen says Canadian producers do have options.

“The world needs canola,” he said. “They need to eat. If one country doesn’t buy it, it becomes cheaper for a short period of time. Then, another country jumps on it (to help bring the price up again).”

Ultimately, the producer said China will have to pay just as much for the product as it paid before, if not more, when it decides to lift the ban and starts accepting canola from the Great White North once again.

Loewen expects the issue will be resolved shortly.

On Tuesday, Moe suggested Canada should take reciprocal action on Chinese imports, but he seems to have backed away from that idea for now. He isn’t advocating that Saskatchewan take a leading step in such actions when it comes to things like Chinese potash companies in the province, or Huawei deals with SaskTel.

“That may be one of the options that we ultimately get to at some point in time, with respect to some of the products that we bring in to Saskatchewan and Canada,” he said. “But at this point in time, we’re going to continue to work with our federal government to ensure that we can work on the challenge that is right at hand here today and that’s the access of our canola products into that nation.”

Moe said the federal government needs to be firm with China, but it’s an important market and shouldn’t be taken for granted.

— with files from Alice McFarlane, CJME

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

by Angela Brown

As Ottawa boosts loans for farmers, Sask. producer optimistic China will soon lift ban

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