Green Prairie International of Lethbridge has become the first Canadian forage exporter to make a sale to China.
The federal government and the company announced today that it has shipped 20 containers of alfalfa with 40 more on order, worth $600,000.
Last year, China imported $103 million worth of forage products from foreign suppliers
The GPI sale is the first Canadian sale since the government negotiated access for alfalfa to China a year ago.
“This is the first of many shipments as China’s growing demand translates into new sales opportunities for Canadian producers and jobs and growth for our economy,” agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said in a statement on the sale.
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“This is solid evidence that Canadian exporters are taking advantage of new market access secured by this government.”
With plans to double dairy production by 2015, China will be a major and growing market for alfalfa hay.
Ritz said Canadian negotiators also are working to open the Chinese market to timothy hay.
GPI president John Van Hierden said the opening into China represents “unprecedented opportunities for the Canadian forage industry.”
His farm first exported hay to Japan in 1985 and Green Prairie International was launched in 2008.
According to the government, forage and forage product exports last year were worth more than $85 million.
