Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Building global trade partnerships

The backbone of many Canadian agriculture commodities is trade. It's what has allowed several sectors to expand and has given us our reputation as a global breadbasket. The last year was an active one on the Canadian trade front with some new bilateral agreements being signed and negotiations continuing on others, including a free trade deal with the European Union.

What lies ahead for 2010? Plenty of opportunities but also some potential pitfalls to be mindful of, predicts Mary Lou McCutcheon, an economist and consultant with Guelph-based Synthesis Agri-Food Consulting.

According to statistics from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada's agri-food exports in 2008 totaled more than 38 billion dollars. Canadian agri-food products went to 195 different countries around the world.

In the last two years, Canada has signed new bilateral trade agreements with Jordan, Columbia, Peru and the European Free Trade Association (Norway, Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Iceland) and is actively involved in negotiations on 12 others.

"Exports are vitally important to Canada, especially for agriculture so the opening of new trading relationships is critical," says McCutcheon. "And although Canada is really supportive of the WTO process, we can't rely solely on it to open doors for us. That's why we have to move ahead with bilateral agreements."

The current round of global trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) began in 2001 in Doha, Qatar with the goal of helping poorer countries prosper through trade and is still ongoing. US President Barack Obama and other G-20 leaders have set a goal of finishing the almost ten year old WTO negotiations this year, but talks have stalled over demands for more market access in exchange for cuts in farm subsidies. For Canada, the WTO talks are a complex issue due to the parallel nature of Canadian agriculture.

"We produce a very diverse group of commodities in Canada and not all are looking for the same outcomes to the WTO talks," explains McCutcheon. "This makes Canada's position very challenging."

A free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union would give this country access to a collective market of approximately 500 million people across 27 member states. Canadian agricultural trade is also growing on a commodity-specific basis, including an expansion of meat exports into Russia. In the fall of 2009, Russia announced it would expand access for Canadian beef to include all beef from cattle under thirty months of age and boneless beef from cattle over thirty months of age.

Canada has to continue to aggressively pursue trade opportunities if it wants a healthy and competitive farming sector, says McCutcheon.

"If we don't work to get bilateral agreements - like free trade with the EU - in place while the WTO talks are ongoing, we will lose out" she explains, adding that the United States in particular has been aggressively pursuing free trade agreements over the last number of years, with 17 currently in place and another three are awaiting Congressional approval.

However, Canada's global agricultural trade prospects come with some cautions as well. According to McCutcheon, there is risk in further developing a market based largely on export opportunities. Both Canadian beef and pork have seen markets shut down or their access limited - H1N1, Country of Origin Labelling and BSE are recent examples - that have had devastating impacts on their sectors.

Insights - so what does it all mean?

Maintenance is as important as expansion: The size and strength of Canadian agriculture is already heavily based on export opportunities. We need to work proactively to maintain those markets and ensure we have strong relationships with our trading partners.

Pursuing global opportunities: We must pursue global agreements to make sure we have market access for many of our export-based commodities. Meeting the diverse needs of consumers in different markets will be important to future growth for Canadian agri-food exports.

Alternative strategies: There are risks attached to developing an industry based on market access to another country. Canadian pork, beef, canola and flax producers have experienced this first-hand. Diversity in products and markets is important and it should be part of agriculture's long term outlook to have alternative strategies in place should product be unable to move to an export country.


Sincerely,
The Synthesis Agri-Food Consulting Team

"Our Passion is Problem Solving"

Views: 36

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Manitoba Planting Advances; Remains Ahead of Average Pace

Manitoba producers made just minor seeding advances this past week, although overall progress remains ahead of last year and the five-year average.  The weekly provincial crop report pegged seeding at 8% complete as of Tuesday, up 5 points from a week earlier and ahead of 4% last year and 6% on average.   Almost half the spring wheat acres in the Central and Interlake regions have been seeded, the report said, with other regions progressing quickly. Seeding of oats and barley has begun in the Southwest, Central, Eastern, and Interlake regions.  Canola planting has started in the Central region. Sunflowers have also started to be seeded in the Central and Interlake regions. Field peas are being seeded in all regions, while soybean crops are being planted in the Central, Eastern, and Interlake regions.   Manitoba received variable amounts of precipitation over the past four days, ranging from 0 mm to 12.7 mm with most regions receiving less than 0.5 mm.  Southwest:  Good weather ov

Canadian Corn Stocks Hit Decade Low, Soybeans Heavier

Canadian corn stocks as of March 31 fell to a decade low, while soybean stockpiles hit the highest in five years.  Thursday’s Statistics Canada grain stocks report showed total national corn stocks at 7.197 million tonnes, down 13% from a year earlier and the lowest since March 31, 2015, at 6.289 million. In contrast, March 31 soybean stocks were pegged at 2.393 million tonnes, a year-over-year increase of nearly 11% and the heaviest since March 31, 2020.  StatsCan said corn stocks fell amid a more than 50% fall in imports to 1 million tonnes, combined with a doubling in exports to 1.4 million.  Soybean stocks were at least partially buoyed by a larger 2024 Canadian crop, up 8.4% on the year to 7.568 million tonnes.   National on-farm corn stocks as of March 31 decreased 8.5% compared with the same date in 2024, to 4.9 million tonnes, while commercial stocks fell 20.9% to 2.3 million.   On-farm soybean stocks rose 11.1% to 1.4 million tonnes, with commercial stocks up 10.6% to 988

Early Saskatchewan Planting Ahead of 5-, 10-Year Averages

Spring planting is off to quick start in Saskatchewan, with almost 20% of the 2025 crop in the ground already.  The first weekly crop report of the season on Thursday pegged provincewide planting at 18% complete as of Monday. That’s 8 points ahead of the five-year average and 6 points better than the 10-year average. Last year, planting was 12% done at this time.  “Despite multiple storms throughout the province in April, producers were able to get into their fields and make rapid progress over the last couple of weeks,” the report said.  Limited moisture fell throughout much of the province over the last week. The highest reported rainfall was in the Alida area at 16 millimetres (mm) followed by the Lafleche area at 12 mm.  Planting progress is the most advanced in the southwest region, where 43% of the crop was in as of Monday and the first seeded crops starting to emerge. The northwest and southeast regions are also making good progress, at 15% and 14% done, respectively. The we

Understanding Yardage Costs in Cow-Calf Operations

Have you ever wondered where your money goes during the winter-feeding period? Feed costs are easy to spot in a beef cattle operation, but what about the other expenses quietly chipping away at your bottom line? This is where yardage comes in—it is a crucial part of managing winter feeding costs in cow-calf operations.  What is Yardage? Yardage refers to the overhead and non-feed costs incurred while maintaining cattle during the winter-feeding period. These costs include day-to-day expenses such as labor, equipment and building maintenance, fuel, utilities, manure handling and other general expenses like farm taxes and accounting fees. They also include non-cash costs such as machinery and facility depreciation, which represent the graduate loss of value in assets over time. Why Does Yardage Matter to a Beef Producer? Yardage may not grab attention like feed costs, but it significantly impacts profitability. These costs, especially non-cash costs like depreciation, often remain unno

Mother’s Day Q&A with Anna McCutcheon

The hardest part about motherhood is balancing everything, Anna McCutcheon says

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service