Saskatchewan agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud’s penchant for honesty and optimism sometimes gets him in trouble.
When he said last year that he is hopeful about the livestock sector because calf prices were strengthening, he took a beating from those struggling to buy or move feed because of wet conditions.
When he said 2010 would be a good test for AgriStability, the opposition admonished him for not doing enough to help farmers immediately.
When he repeated the old saw about never losing a crop in April, that might be a stretch this year.
Read Also
Research looks to control flea beetles with RNAi
A Vancouver agri-tech company wants to give canola growers another weapon in the never-ending battle against flea beetles.
The soil was so saturated heading into winter that many are predicting more acres will go unseeded this year than last.
“There’s an awful lot of snow already,” Bjornerud said in a December interview. “It’s a little bit scary.”
And that is the truth many Saskatchewan producers are facing.
This year could be worse than 2010 for wet fields, unseeded acres and unrealized income. Even a warm, dry spring might not be enough to allow farmers on their land.
“We’re going through the budget cycle right now and we’re certainly aware of what could come. This year we weren’t prepared because nobody saw this coming.”
Bjornerud hopes to improve the crop insurance program so that it could offer more protection in the event of another disastrous year. New contracts will be out in a couple of months. But making changes to crop insurance is much easier than changing AgriStability or nailing down the details of AgriRecovery.
The federal and provincial ministers are scheduled to meet later this month or early February to begin discussing the steps required to enable the next agricultural policy framework. Growing Forward expires March 31, 2013.
Bjornerud said the problem with AgriRecovery continues to be the unknown payment triggers.
Although Ottawa was quick to act with the $360 million excess moisture program payment last July, Bjornerud said he still doesn’t know how the program would kick in during another disaster.
“It comes down to the federal people deciding what would qualify or not and that makes it hard from our point of view.”
He said the inability to effect change is one of his biggest frustrations.
“It’s a frustrating process because this country is so diverse. I would like to see them let us in Western Canada here design more of those type of programs that fit our needs.
“To this point, I’ve not been getting a whole lot of attention or sympathy to that cause, but I’m going to keep working on it.”
One change Saskatchewan didn’t want – mandatory livestock traceability – is supposed to occur in 2011, but there has been no proposed implementation date.
“You know, it’s very quiet and I’m almost scared to ask because I don’t want to stir it up,” Bjornerud said.
He said the livestock industry in general is looking up. Prices are improving and the recent opening of Thunder Creek Pork in Moose Jaw could be a signal to a beef packer that the province needs a plant.
Meanwhile, Bjornerud’s own future will also be determined in 2011. The next provincial election will be held Nov. 7 and he has been nominated to run again in Melville- Saltcoats.
