The province and the federal ag department on Tuesday announced they’ve agreed on a late participation option for the 2022 program year.

In this case, the option allows for enrolment in the ag income stabilization program as long as farmers pay their program fees by June 30 this year. Usually the enrolment deadline is April 30 in the program year itself.

“A severe avian influenza outbreak affected many Fraser Valley poultry producers in 2022, and some B.C. crop producers have also been dealing with production losses and revenue declines due to extreme weather events and abnormally cold temperatures,” the governments said in a joint release.

Late participants in AgriStability still need to comply with all other program requirements. For late participants, any payments — including interim payments — are reduced by 20 per cent.

AgriStability is a margin-based program meant to help producers manage large income declines, funded 60-40 by the federal and respective provincial governments.

Farm financial advisors have previously noted Canada’s supply-managed sectors, such as poultry, don’t generally see the sorts of margin declines suited to AgriStability — thus, the sector’s participation in AgriStability is generally low.

However, advisors have also said previous avian flu outbreaks in Canada showed such a decline is possible.

With that in mind, advisors have previously suggested producers consider whether the costs to participate in AgriStability are worth the coverage provided, compared to other insurance products they may already have.

Since the province confirmed its first outbreak of H5N1 on April 13 last year, cases of avian flu have been confirmed at 103 different premises in B.C. alone, impacting an estimated 3.657 million birds. Of the 103, 69 have since been released from quarantine.

Also, of the 103 affected properties, 75 were confirmed with avian flu during a stretch from last Nov. 14 to Jan. 22 this year, the bulk of which were in commercial poultry barns at or around Abbotsford and Chilliwack. No new cases have appeared in B.C. poultry since Jan. 22.

Along with the avian flu outbreaks, B.C. farmers in the spring of 2022 also contended with unusually cold and wet weather, due to what Environment Canada described as “a steady parade of cold lows from the north Pacific Ocean, along with the hangover effects of a two-year long La Niña.”

The cold weather stunted early development of fruit crops, while the wet conditions left many fields too wet to plant and left other early field crops “rott(ing) in the ground,” Environment Canada said in December, when it put B.C.’s wintery spring at No. 6 on its list of the top 10 weather stories for 2022.

‘Challenges’

“By allowing late participation in AgriStability, we will be able to offer financial support to more farmers and producers who need assistance due to factors, such as weather and disease, that were out of their control,” B.C.’s Ag Minister Pam Alexis said in Tuesday’s release.

“We recognize the challenges our agricultural community have faced over the past year, and we encourage anyone who is eligible to retroactively sign up, so they can improve their financial situation for the coming year, while continuing to produce the products we all appreciate and rely on.”

The federal and Alberta governments on Feb. 1 announced a similar late-participation option for AgriStability for that province’s poultry producers, following avian flu outbreaks there, but with an enrolment deadline of Feb. 28.

AgriStability is one of the business risk management programs funded under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), the latest in a series of five-year federal-provincial-territorial multilateral framework agreements on agriculture and food policy.

CAP’s five-year successor agreement, dubbed the Sustainable CAP, is set to take effect April 1 this year. British Columbia on Wednesday became the second of the 10 provinces, after Ontario, to sign its funding agreement with the federal government for Sustainable CAP.

For B.C., the new funding agreement commits the federal and provincial governments to provide over $140 million for “strategic initiatives,” up 25 per cent from the current CAP deal, plus commitments of about $330 million for business risk management programs.

In B.C., the province noted Tuesday, AgriStability participation has been “consistent” over the past three years, with about 2,100 farmers enrolled in each of 2020, 2021 and 2022. Late participation options were granted in 2018 and 2021. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Following meetings this week in Saskatoon, federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her provincial and territorial counterparts on Friday mapped out the bones of their next five-year ag funding framework, to be called the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

“As the provincial-territorial co-chair, we are pleased with the increased funding all parties have committed to today,” the ministerial co-chair, Saskatchewan Ag Minister Dave Marit, said in a release. “I believe we have found the proper balance between economic and environmental objectives to ensure our industry remains globally competitive.”

Where the current five-year Canadian Agricultural Partnership — agreed upon in 2017 for the 2018-2023 period under Bibeau’s predecessor Lawrence MacAulay — committed the feds and provinces to $2 billion in funding for cost-shared programs, the new partnership deal will raise that figure to $2.5 billion, up 25 per cent.

RALP

Part of the thicker cost-shared envelope — $250 million — will go to fund a new Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program (RALP), which is meant to support ecological goods and services provided by the agriculture sector.

The ministers “agreed in principle” on that program, with details to come later, though they said it will be administered by the provinces and territories, based on “nationally consistent principles (and) tailored to regional needs and conditions.”

Existing programs that “respect the guidelines” for RALP, such as Prince Edward Island’s Alternate Land Use Services (ALUS) program, Quebec’s Programme de Rétribution des pratiques agroenvironnementales, and Manitoba’s Growing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW), will be “able to benefit from the new federal funding,” the federal government said in its release Friday.

AgriStability

The new partnership also commits the feds and provinces to boost the compensation rate for the AgriStability ag income stabilization program to 80 per cent, up from the current 70, which is expected to provide another $72 million per year for enrolled farmers.

Under AgriStability, a payment is triggered when a participating farmer’s production margin for a given program year falls more than 30 per cent below their reference margin. Under the current framework, AgriStability covers 70 per cent of the farmer’s decline beyond that 30 per cent mark.

That said, the ministers added Friday they’ve agreed to “continue to work, and consult with industry, on a new AgriStability model that will be faster, simpler and more predictable.”

The governments taking part in the ag policy framework said they’ve “identified key changes” to improve AgriStability and plan to “further analyze and implement this new model while ensuring a smooth transition.”

As for other business risk management (BRM) programs operating under the partnership, the ministers committed to a one-year review on “how to integrate climate risk and readiness” in those programs.

Under that review, the provinces would identify “potential incentives” and then launch a pilot for producers who adopt environmental practices that also reduce their production risks.

The ministers also agreed that in order to receive a government contribution to their AgriInvest accounts, farmers who have allowable net sales (ANS) of at least $1 million will need to have an agri-environmental risk assessment (for example, an Environmental Farm Plan) in place by 2025.

The ministers noted the BRM programs will still “continue to focus on production risk.”

‘Results strategy’

The ministers also said they agreed on “the need for a more robust results strategy” for the 2023-28 partnership, which will involve “improved data sharing, results reporting, and a commitment to contribute to common, measurable outcomes” over that time.

Those outcomes include reduction in the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by between three million and five million tonnes; $250 billion in ag sector revenues and $95 billion in sector export revenues by 2028; and a measurable increase in funded recipients who are Indigenous Peoples, women and youth over that time.

The ministers noted Quebec is “already implementing policies and strategies to provide targets, indicators and accountability processes that meet the priorities and objectives set out in this agreement” and will not be subject to the framework target’s commitments but rather will “contribute to collective results” through its own targets and accountability mechanisms.

Fertilizer emissions

Curbing the ag sector’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fertilizer was a sore spot among participating ministers. In their joint release, they said they “discussed the importance of ensuring that efforts to reduce emissions from fertilizer or other agricultural sources do not impede Canada’s ability to contribute to domestic and global food security, now or into the future.”

The discussions, they said, also “mentioned” ongoing consultations undertaken by the feds to develop “voluntary approaches” to achieve Canada’s target of reducing absolute GHG emissions associated with fertilizers by 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030.

That 30 per cent target was first laid out in the federal climate plan in late 2020. The ministers said Friday it was “reiterated” at their meeting that the 30 per cent target “applies to emissions and not fertilizer use.”

However, Marit, in a separate release, said his government is “really concerned with this arbitrary goal,” adding the Trudeau government “has apparently moved on from their attack on the oil and gas industry and set their sights on Saskatchewan farmers.”

Marit and his Alberta counterpart Nate Horner, in a joint statement Friday, said the provinces had “pushed the federal government to discuss this important topic, but were disappointed to learn that the target is already set.”

The commitment to future consultations, Marit and Horner said, is “only to determine how to meet the target that Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Bibeau have already unilaterally imposed on this industry, not to consult on what is achievable or attainable.”

“The federal government needs to be true partners, rather than simply imposing targets that make it harder,” Ontario’s Agriculture Minister Lisa Thompson said in a separate statement, adding the provinces were “disappointed by the lack of flexibility and consultation regarding the federal target.”

Reaction

The Canadian Cattle Association, in a separate release late Friday, said with the new framework’s increased funding envelope, the beef cattle sector “is now better equipped to deliver on some of the ambitious environmental and productivity goals as set by the national beef strategy partners.”

“Today’s announcement is a recognition that the (ag ministers) heard our concerns,” CCA president Reg Schellenberg said in the release.

The CCA hailed the RALP program announcement as “a welcome investment for beef producers who perform these services as a byproduct of raising beef” and noted the increase to the AgriStability compensation rate has “long been advocated for by the beef sector.”

Bill Campbell, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said the group “remain(s) concerned with the increase in GHG reduction targets… This will need clear and transparent data sources and measures, but we have yet to see which data and life cycle analysis will be used to determine these targets.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the second intake of the Meat Processors Capacity Improvement Initiative will provide up to $150,000 per project for handling and processing equipment to increase efficiency, productivity and food safety. It will also cover consulting and engineering costs associated with planning future projects. The intake opened for applications on Nov.19, 2021.

This initiative builds on the $7.2 million invested last year through the first intake. 

The Meat Processors Capacity Improvement Initiative will provide funding for eligible free-standing meat plants and abattoirs to implement measures that will improve efficiency and productivity through short-term investments in equipment. Eligible project costs can be incurred as of Nov. 12, 2021. Eligible projects must be completed with equipment delivered by March 21, 2022. Recipients will have until June 30, 2022 to have their equipment installed.

“The lack of sufficient processing capacity in Ontario has been a limiting factor to a healthy competitive market for the province’s beef sector,” said Rob Lipsett, president, Beef Farmers of Ontario, in a release. “The first intake of the Meat Processing Capacity Improvement Initiative was fully subscribed, which speaks to its critical value to the livestock processing sector.” 

There are 480 provincially licensed and 230 federally licensed facilities (abattoirs and free-standing meat plants) in Ontario.

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The five-year framework agreement currently in place, known as the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), is a $3 billion funding deal between federal, provincial and territorial governments that funds a wide range of programming within the sector.

That deal, agreed upon in mid-2017, kicked off in April 2018 and expires at the end of March 2023.

Consultations were launched Thursday on the next agreement — the current working title of which is the “Next Agricultural Policy Framework” — to continue through June and into spring next year.

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau continues to be at odds with Prairie provinces over who picks up how much of the tab for cost-shared programming under these frameworks. In the CAP, the federal government picks up 60 per cent to the province’s 40 — a ratio that’s been contentious throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facing high payouts for business risk management programming and tight budgets elsewhere, the Prairie provinces tried convincing Ottawa to boost its share to 90 per cent for affected CAP programming. Bibeau has maintained the current funding level has long been in place and should remain so.

Meanwhile, a federal offer to boost eligibility for payouts under one such cost-shared program, AgriStability, was recently rejected by several of the provinces.

Beyond the dollars and cents at stake, the specific programming to be made available in the next framework is also headed the right way for tense negotiations. Producer and industry groups, for example, have long called for reforms to Canada’s business risk management programs.

The federal and provincial/territorial governments have so far failed to reach an agreement that would meaningfully reform those programs under the current framework, but there has always been at least some optimism for change during the next round of negotiations.

Whether that optimism manifests in substantial changes remains to be seen.

Western provinces are actively exploring what new business risk management programs could be developed. Agricultural ministers in some provinces have expressed support for an alternative program to replace AgriStability — by far the most disliked of all the programs — for 2023.

Complaints of AgriStability being costly and ineffective, particularly on the Prairies, prompted governments in those jurisdictions to explore other options.

Manitoba’s Agriculture Minister Blaine Pedersen, who has championed the idea of a margin-based insurance program, leads the call for more broad changes to business risk management programs in the long term, including a potential replacement for AgriStability.

“We think that is a much better way of producers being able to insure themselves,” he said in March.

He told reporters at that time his government will continue to lobby for a livestock insurance program and explore the efficiency of a Whole Farm Margin Insurance (WFMI) program.

Alberta and Saskatchewan joined a working group to further investigate such a program, which would be modelled like crop insurance.

Much of the discussions and consultations so far toward the next partnership agreement are also expected to focus heavily on climate change.

Bibeau said Thursday it was “hard to tell” how climate change policies will be considered against programming in the negotiations, but she stressed the industry and provinces will continue to have a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Ongoing development of offset protocols, carbon border adjustments and carbon pricing policies could impact agricultural negotiations between Canadian jurisdictions.

Labour and supply chain issues, brought to the public’s attention in a big way throughout the pandemic, will also be a topic of discussion.

Asked how labour shortages may be be addressed in the 2023 agreement, Bibeau pointed to the federal government’s role in funding research and innovation.

“There’s space for improvement around innovation, around robotics or artificial intelligence, so there is a path there definitely that we are interested in,” she said, adding the shortage could be addressed in part by streamlining immigration programs.

Expect more of a commitment to diverse voices under the next policy framework, as well. Moreso than perhaps any of her predecessors, Bibeau has engaged diverse voices often left out of agriculture.

To that end, she said the federal government will look to improve opportunities for Indigenous peoples, women and youth in the industry.

“We are really committed to diversity and inclusion and I can ensure you our consultation process, through our consultation process, we will reach out,” she said, adding sometimes the government needs proactively seek out different voices.

While the federal government has launched its consultations, expect provinces and territories to do the same; Prince Edward Island, for one, launched an online public survey on the Next Policy Framework on May 31, with a submission deadline of July 1.

— D.C. Fraser reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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The statistic, across all sectors of the economy, is staggering and points to the need for adequate training.

The Ontario agri-food sector, with a diverse range of career opportunities, struggles to find enough qualified workers.

Providing opportunities for training and awareness of the industry improves understanding and prepares new workers for the realities of working on a farm or in a food processing facility.

Since the onset of the pandemic, the Canadian and Ontario governments have invested more than $750,000 in projects to support labour and training needs for new workers in the farming sector.

Through Canadian Agricultural Partnership funding, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) was able to partner with economic development and agricultural commodity organizations to develop short training videos to support the sector.

Biosecurity, integrated pest management, animal welfare, and agricultural equipment are some of the topics covered in the Focus on Food and Focus on Livestock video series. These videos provide the foundation for new workers, but also provide a window into the industry to enhance public trust.

New farm hires starting in the spring may also benefit from the new Ontario Agriculture Worker Safety and Awareness Certificate offered through the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus Business Development Centre in collaboration with OFA.

Topics such as an introduction to farm equipment, crop and livestock operations, hazards on the farm and general health and safety practices are covered to assist farm businesses with training and to provide job seekers with an advantage in a competitive job market.

For more information, visit feedingyourfuture.ca.

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They said efforts in the United States to slow the growth of resistance in corn rootworm to Bt-based control traits have not been effective.

Why it matters: According to entomologist Tracey Baute, there is no new corn rootworm control measure nearing development and approval, so it’s important Ontario agriculture strives to maintain as much effectiveness as possible in the existing Bt traits.

“The biggest thing, and the most important thing… is to rotate out of corn,” field crop entomologist Tracey Baute told a recent OMAFRA seminar on rootworm resistance. It was subsequently acknowledged that isn’t always practical, so other strategies were offered if immediate rotation isn’t in the cards.

Forage and grazing specialist Christine O’Reilly said in the top U.S. corn-growing states, where resistance has progressed faster than north of the border, one lesson learned was that early strategies, such as refugia and careful variation of stacked or pyramid hybrids, did not involve livestock producers who grow corn. As a result, corn-on-corn rotations persisted even though all top advisers urged their end.

“While we know that livestock producers aren’t the only people growing continuous corn, we do know they have a stronger incentive to do that because they need a high-yielding, high-quality source of feed,” she said.

O’Reilly said the challenge is not necessarily crop protection in nature, but rather a feed inventory problem.

Very little matches corn for yield potential. Even though livestock producers can suffer the most significant yield losses from infestations, owing to their use of the entire plant, they need good alternatives to replace that energy source.

Fodder beets are very high yielding, O’Reilly noted, with high energy. But “the equipment might be a challenge, so (beets) might be something more long-term.”

Until then, it’s grasses. Spring cereals, though, can serve as corn rootworm hosts; winter grasses, thanks to their high-growth stage coming when the rootworms aren’t active, are the most likely. As well, spring-planted sorghum species, which use a toxin to repel corn rootworm, have potential.

(Click here to learn more about O’Reilly’s examination of the various options.)

Both O’Reilly and Baute acknowledged that rotation away from corn might not always be practical. If you can’t, though, Baute urged growers to recognize that three of the four Bt proteins serving as below-ground corn rootworm controls in today’s pyramid hybrids are closely related. So if there’s resistance to one, there’s almost certainly resistance to all three.

“We strongly discourage just switching to a different pyramid hybrid in the hopes that’s going to solve the problem because we’re past that point now.”

If you can’t rotate, she advised, use an above-ground control. This may come in the form of a high-rate neonic treatment, or in the form of an investment in insecticide boxes on your planter. Either one requires planning.

A new intake just opened for Canadian Agricultural Partnership cost-share funding, and insecticide boxes, as well as custom pesticide applications are part of this program.

Another emerging option is bio-control nematodes. Work underway in New York state suggests these can be applied one time and last up to 10 years. Baute showed a side-by-side photo from one of the New York trial plots, and asked anyone interested in trying it to contact her.

Don’t, however, look to a high-rate insecticide during the growing season. Baute offered two reasons: they mask injury so you don’t know you’ve got a problem, and they could delay adult emergence and thereby increase the number of resistant survivors at the end of the season.

From a livestock perspective, O’Reilly said the most important strategy isn’t in the field but rather in the farm office — be it a mobile office or behind a desk. She urged producers to set up a conference call with both their agronomist and nutritionist. “Please, use the time this winter to get everybody on the same call… and come up with that crop plan that meets the feed needs.”

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At the online federal-provincial-territorial agriculture ministers’ meeting on Friday, federal Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau proposed dropping AgriStability’s maximum reference margin, and increasing the compensation rate from 70 to 80 per cent retroactively this year and for calendar 2021 and 2022.

“Taken together, these changes would increase the overall amount AgriStability pays out to farmers by 50 per cent,” the federal government said in a news release.

Like other provinces, Manitoba is studying Bibeau’s proposal, which would cost the province at least $15 million more a year, Pedersen said.

But what Ottawa is offering farmers might hurt them more in the long run, he added.

At the meeting’s close Bibeau said farm support “payments are going to rich farmers only,” according to Pedersen. He interpreted that to mean under the next five year federal-provincial Canadian Agricultural Partnership, due to begin April 1, 2023, Bibeau’s plan is to cut spending on other farm support programs, including AgriInsurance and AgriInvest.

“(T)he federal government seems to have implied they are putting out something now but they are going to claw back the money later and that’s our big concern,” Pedersen said. “We want to look at the long-term stability of farm programs to make sure that they are bankable, that they are timely and that they work for the farm community.

“Be careful what you ask for…”

The federal government’s AgriStability proposal shows it wants to invest in farm supports, not cut them, a spokesperson from Bibeau’s office stated in an email Tuesday.

“She has put a concrete offer on the table for the provinces to consider,” the official wrote. “She is trying to find a national consensus to boost the amount AgriStability pays out to farmers by 50 per cent for 2020 and ongoing.

“Formal consultations on the direction of the next policy framework have not even started yet, and it is far too early to imply anything otherwise. All levels of government have a chance to listen to farmers today and step up to meaningful and immediate reforms that will significantly improve the lives of farmers.”

While Pedersen said Manitoba will closely review Bibeau’s AgriStability proposal, he’s also asking farmers to consider four other options, including a margin-based insurance program that could replace AgriStability.

Details need to be worked out, but farm income could be stabilized by insuring farm margins with governments and farmers sharing the premium costs, Pedersen said.

Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) wants to see more details before endorsing that plan, president Bill Campbell said in an interview.

Bibeau’s AgriStability proposal looks promising, he added.

“I think if some of the issues were addressed and fixed it wouldn’t necessarily be a broken program,” he said, in response to Pedersen’s critique of AgriStability.

Canadian farmers have been advocating for AgriStability improvements since 2013 when the Harper government changed it. Campbell said he’s frustrated Ottawa’s proposal took so long.

“Nobody could counter-offer or object until something was on the table,” he said. “Now it’s going to take another three or four months to figure it out.”

Agriculture can play a role in boosting Canada’s economy post-COVID, but the industry needs income stabilization to realize its potential, Campbell said.

Check out the Dec. 10 issue of the Manitoba Co-operator for more details on this story.

— Allan Dawson is a reporter for the Manitoba Co-operator at Miami, Man.

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The funding comes from the federal-provincial Canadian Agricultural Partnership and and is part of a targeted intake created April 17 to help address labour supply and training challenges in agriculture and food.

The OFA project, Enhancing Agri-Food Workforce Readiness Along the Value Chain, includes a job matching concierge, specialized agri-training, collaborative marketing, targeted regional needs, and rapid response initiatives to keep the essential food supply chain functioning.

OFA is partnering with AgCareers.com and CareersinFood.com to provide an enhanced job matching concierge for farmers and food and beverage processors to set up an online account, post job openings, and manage applications.

OFA will also host virtual career fairs in partnership with several communities across the province. Beyond COVID-19, this platform will be particularly useful for rural and remote communities, where it can be difficult to congregate and recruit employees over vast geographies.

For more details about the project, visit ofa.on.ca/feedingyourfuture.

This project will receive up to $396,000 in cost-share funding through the Canadian Agriculture Partnership.

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The Ontario and Canadian governments are investing $2.5 million the new Agri-Food Open for E-Business initiative through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP).

Organizations and businesses can apply for a grant of up to $5000 to establish an online e-business and marketing presence.

Program applications in Ontario will be administered by OMAFRA and the goal is to move the money quickly to those who need it. OMAFRA will immediately accept applications or by calling: 1-877-424-1300. The projects should be complete by the end of November.

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $2.5 million to help the agri-food sector expand online, providing more opportunities for producers to grow their business and offer more food choices for families who are shopping from home during the COVID-19 outbreak. The funding is being provided through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership).

The project is aimed at farmers, farmers markets, retailers, garden centres, greenhouse, nurseries and agricultural associations who have had to develop online presences to provide consumers with access to food and products. As Farmtario has reported on how suppliers of food directly from farms have faced unprecedented demand.

A second funding stream will be for organizations and businesses and collaborations who can apply for cost-share funding of up to $75,000 for high-impact projects.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) will immediately accept applications and expedite the approval process to help businesses and organizations develop, expand and enhance their current online presence.

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The Ontario and federal governments on Wednesday announced applications for cost-share funding can be submitted between now and April 30, “as long as funding for the initiative is available.”

Eligible projects must be wrapped up within the year, by Dec. 31 at the latest. Examples given Wednesday of eligible projects include:

• capital upgrades for “enhanced” food safety,
• improvements in “safe handling and housing” of animals, or
• new equipment for “safe and efficient” disposal of hides.

The public funds for this program will come from the federal/provincial Canadian Agricultural Partnership policy funding framework.

“This funding comes at a time of critical challenges in the beef industry due to shortages in beef processing capacity,” Joe Hill, president of Beef Farmers of Ontario, said in the governments’ release Wednesday.

The squeeze on packing capacity in Ontario was brought into sharper focus in December when federal officials cancelled the license for Ryding-Regency Meat Packers.

The Toronto company — whose license had already been suspended since September in the wake of several E. coli-related food recalls — was estimated to have handled about 10 per cent of Ontario’s federally inspected beef slaughter, or around 1,500 cattle per week.

The cost-share support, BFO’s Hill said, “will help enable investment in equipment and infrastructure that assists businesses in remaining competitive and adapting to market-driven demands.”

The two governments’ announcement Wednesday also included a commitment of up to $292,600 to help BFO with “marketing efforts to access emerging markets,” naming Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and the European Union.

That money will flow through Ontario’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership-backed Place to Grow initiative, which, among its other programming, offers funding to support sector organizations’ market development work. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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