“With increasing demand for local organic products from folks here in Canada and around the world, I have no doubt this investment will have a positive impact right across the value chain,” federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay said in a Thursday news release.

MacAulay pledged up to nearly $$1,175,841 for the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA) over three years via the AgriMarketing program and up to $985,985 over three years to the Prairie Organic Development Fund via the AgriCompetativeness program.

This renews federal funding COTA has received since 2012, executive director Tia Loftsgard said in an email.

“This support has been instrumental in advancing our mission at the Canada Organic Trade Association, enabling us to expand our reach, enhance our marketing strategies, and ultimately strengthen the organic sector in Canada,” she said in the federal news release.

Loftsgard said COTA had requested $5 million over three years but received the same amount as their 2021 grant.

The funding mostly flows to member organizations, she added. The rest goes to funding events, webinars and trade shows, producing organic sector data reports, funding organic advocacy work, and other projects.

The Prairie Organic Development Fund (PODF) is “an investment platform established to develop organic agriculture and marketing in the Canadian Prairies,” its website says.

The federal funding will “advance the organic sector in Canada by building evidence for organics through data aggregation and benchmarking, growing organic supply and leadership through education, tools, and skill-building, and strengthening public trust in Canadian organics,” the news release said.

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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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Barry Senft, whose resume in Canadian agriculture includes stints as CEO for Grain Farmers of Ontario, executive director for the Canadian International Grains Institute, chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission and second vice-president for Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, becomes executive director of Seeds Canada on June 1.

Senft, originally from Lipton, Sask., stepped down in April last year as GFO’s CEO, having led that organization since its 2009 formation in a merger of Ontario’s corn, soybean and wheat grower groups.

Seeds Canada formally launched in February, completing a merger of the Canadian Plant Technology Agency (CPTA), Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada (CSAAC), Canadian Seed Institute (CSI) and Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA).

Senft’s “national experience in the grain sector, understanding of agriculture issues and extensive experience in strategic development and leadership will be an asset,” Seeds Canada president Ellen Sparry said in a release Thursday.

“The impact of the seed sector is already significant, but there is great potential for it to do more if we can unlock its full potential with the right regulations and support,” Senft said in the same release.

Senft, as executive director, is expected to work with the Seeds Canada board and staff to “ensure the organization continues to grow throughout the amalgamation and deliver enhanced services for members and clients.”

Among his first tasks, the organization said, “will be to enact a renewed outreach to current and potential members and to drive Seeds Canada’s members priorities to the forefront of government agenda.”

The organization’s first annual general meeting is scheduled to take place virtually from July 9 to 16. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Friday announced the government will foot the “necessary funds” to the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) to cover the cost of the 2020 Canadian Organic Standards review.

The CGSB will get $250,000 over the next three years to cover those costs — an amount the government said it reached in discussions with the CGSB to “streamline the process of updating the standards.”

However, the Canada Organic Trade Association (COTA), in a separate release Friday, said the review process is estimated to cost about $550,000, for which COTA said it will “explor(e) various options with government” to cover the balance.

The Organic Standards review must be done every five years, the government said, to make sure agreed-upon organic production methodologies “reflect current practices and technological advancements being employed by the organic industry.”

Food, feed and seed labelled as organic in Canada are required by law to be certified to the Canadian Organic Standards, for import, export and interprovincial trade, and for the use of the Canada Organic logo at retail.

“Canadian organic farmers and food processors are producing a quality product that consumers in Canada and around the world demand,” MacAulay said Friday in Guelph.

“Finding a solution to updating the Canadian Organic Standards is a key part of that, since they ensure our organics are recognized internationally for their quality.”

According to COTA, the Canadian Organic Standards were drafted in 2006 and became regulation in 2009, as international trading partners threatened to ban organic goods from Canada if a federal organic regulation wasn’t put in place, “despite organic practices and standards being in existence for many years prior under a voluntary system.”

The Canadian government worked with industry and the Canadian General Standards Board of Canada to ensure that Canada’s Organic Standards would be accepted by Canada’s key trade partners, namely the European Union, Japan and the USA and compliant with ISO criteria.

The CGSB — the standards development and “conformity assessment” arm of Canada’s federal Public Services and Procurement department — worked with industry and government to make sure the Organic Standards would be ISO-compliant and accepted by trading partners including the U.S., European Union and Japan, COTA said.

‘Heavily burdened’

Originally, COTA said, the cost of the 2020 Organic Standards review had been pegged at $1 million, based on the total cost of the 2015 review.

However, COTA said, the 2020 review is “not expected to be as extensive as prior reviews and can employ other process efficiencies like virtual meetings,” bringing the expected cost down to $550,000.

The federal Green Party had pressed the government as recently as Wednesday to put up funding for the review, noting trading partners such as the U.S. already provide funding for their countries’ organic standards reviews.

“If Canada is to stay competitive in this crucial industry, the Liberal government must follow suit,” Green leader Elizabeth May said Wednesday in a release, noting the Commons standing committee on agriculture had recommended government funding for the review.

“Organic farms and businesses have been heavily burdened with paying for the review of their sector’s industry standards, while other federal departments — from Fisheries and Oceans to Transport — relieve the industries under their purview from this financial obligation,” Kate Storey, the Greens’ ag critic, said in the same release.

MacAulay on Friday also announced $95,114 for COTA through the AgriMarketing program, toward its international market development strategy, along with $72,500 for Canadian Organic Growers to develop a “user-friendly” guide to the Canadian Organic Standards.

“This guide will provide organic producers, processors, handlers and manufacturers in Canada as well as those wishing to enter it, a clear understanding of what is required to become a certified organic producer in Canada,” the government said Friday. — AGCanada.com Network

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In a report released Monday, COTA called out Ontario, the largest market by far for organic products, for having no organic regulations. Five other provinces, including some of the largest markets for organic products, British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have regulations governing organic standards.

The result is confusion for consumers and farmers, said Tom Manley, president of the Organic Council of Ontario (OCO).

“Some farmers are not certifying, some are making unsubstantiated claims. It’s an impediment to organic conversion,” he said.

Individual farms can become certified by several organic certification bodies, and major buyers require it. However, there are no provincial requirements for certification for someone to claim they produce organically.

Federal standards were introduced in 2009 — and most of the provinces with standards have simply adopted the federal standards.

Ontario could do the same, with regulation or legislation as required and some enforcement, said Manley. The province already enforces food regulations, so he doesn’t expect it would require a lot more staff.

“I do understand that the provincial government is cash-strapped, but I don’t imagine this would be a big budget item.”

There does, however, appear to be a lack of political will.

When the OCO has talked to members of the provincial Parliament (MPPs), most think that because there is a system of certification, that the job is done, says Manley. There’s also resistance to putting any more regulation onto rural Ontario, which Manley said he understands.

A third factor is resistance within the organic sector itself. Provincial standards would require organic certification, which Manley says smaller farmers see as time-consuming and expensive. Many of them currently do not certify.

“That’s fair enough,” said Manley. “How else can we serve these folks? Other provinces have some sort of cost-sharing.”

COTA’s report, titled “The State of Organics: Federal-Provincial-Territorial Performance Report 2017” encouraged other provinces to also adopt organic standards, and made several other recommendations.

There’s a lack of data in the organic sector. Some provinces are better than others. Quebec stood out in most of the evaluated categories, including data collection, compared to other provinces. Federally, the report said, more could be done within existing agriculture data collection tools, such as the agricultural census, the farm financial survey and the HS code system.

The report called for an increase to organic-specific programs and policies across the country. The significant difference among provinces creates an uneven playing field, the report said.

Overall, Quebec was identified as a leader in organic regulation and support, with British Columbia and Manitoba next strongest in their support. The federal government also got good marks in the rating system. Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan along with some of the smaller Maritime provinces got the lowest ratings.

— John Greig is a field editor for Glacier FarmMedia based at Ailsa Craig, Ont. Follow him at @jgreig on Twitter.

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The Canada Organic Trade Association on Wednesday released data showing 5,053 certified organic operations in Canada, accounting for 2.43 million acres of land, at the end of 2015 — a 1.5 per cent increase in acres from 2014.

Over half of Canada’s organic operations are in Quebec, Saskatchewan and Ontario, COTA said, with 63.8 per cent of organic acres in pasture, down slightly from 65 per cent on “significant increases” in vegetable and root crop acres, and in fruit and nut acres.

Of Canada’s certified operations in 2015, 4,045 are considered “primary producers” with another 294 now in transition, plus 618 organic livestock operations and 1,542 organic processors, manufacturers and retailers. (Organic “operations” may fall into more than one of those categories, COTA noted.)

Canada, however, also imported at least $652 million worth of organic products in 2015, a total COTA said is up 37 per cent from 2012.

Furthermore, organic retail sales in Canada are now worth $4.7 billion annually, representing a 13.6 per cent increase per year since 2007, COTA said.

“Our organic agricultural production in Canada cannot keep up with the exponential growth of the demand, this is resulting in an increased reliance on import organics,” COTA’s Ottawa-based executive director Tia Loftsgard said in a release.

“Our government must introduce incentives to encourage farm operators to transition to certified organic agriculture,” Loftsgard said, noting both the European Union and U.S. already have programs and policies that “incentivize” farmers to transition to organic.

Those programs fit into “Green Box” criteria at the World Trade Organization and thus would be allowable subsidies under the WTO’s Agriculture Agreement, COTA said.

The Canadian Organic Standards call for farmland to be managed according to organic practices for a three-year transition period before a harvested crop can be marketed as “organic.”

Some provincial governments have previously offered supports to organic producers during the transition period. Quebec, for one, recently extended its organic agriculture conversion support program to the end of March 2022.

The latest numbers from COTA, Loftsgard said, also show the organic sector “continues to rely on the voluntary disclosure of data by certifiers and provincial organizations. In 2016 we finally have universal participation, resulting in the most rigorous production data yet.”

That said, “year-over-year change and inconsistencies remain a risk until a national mandatory data system has been implemented.” — AGCanada.com Network

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