The Alberta government may alter its plan to clamp down on
fusarium-infected grain entering the province.
Ron Axelson of the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association, a member of the
Alberta government’s fusarium committee, has been asked to lead a
three-member group to develop a management strategy for feedlots to
minimize the risk of fusarium spreading through feed grain.
A zero tolerance policy is an “unenforceable policy,” said Axelson, who
has until the end of June to come up with management strategies for
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feedlots.
Axelson, Terry Young of the Alberta Barley Commission and Dee Ann
Benard, a plant pathologist with the Alberta Research Council, will
look at management techniques that feedlots can use to prevent the
spread of fusarium, such as cleaning up spilled grain.
“We’ve identified that feed coming into the feedlots is fairly low
risk,” he said.
In April, the Alberta government proposed to restrict fusarium-infected
feed and seed grain shipments from Saskatchewan and Manitoba and corn
from the United States unless the grain could be certified fusarium
free.
Alberta wanted to avoid the losses facing Manitoba farmers, estimated
at between $50 million and $100 million a year in reduced yields.
Alberta feedlots buy thousands of bushels of feed corn and grain a
year, much of it with some level of fusarium infestation.
Alberta grain farmers had lobbied for a way to prevent the spread of
fusarium graminearum, a fungus that can be toxic when fed to some
livestock.
Shaffeek Ali, chair of the Alberta fusarium task force and head of
Alberta Agriculture’s pest risk management unit, said interest from
farm groups has been intense since the fusarium-free policy was
proposed.
A report on reaction from farm groups and people affected by the policy
was presented to the fusarium committee June 11. More groups still want
to be heard on the topic.
“We’ll be having further discussion. More people are willing to come to
the table,” Ali said. “There are some concerns about the zero tolerance
and the economic impact upon the feeding industry.”
An Agriculture Canada study released earlier this year showed the
fusarium fungus does not survive passage through cattle digestive
systems, although samples from the third year of the study have yet to
be tested.
Leo Meyer, a northern Alberta grain farmer and member of the committee,
said the “battle lines have been drawn” between groups that want to
protect the province’s relatively fusarium-free status and those who
want the ability to import cheap grain.
“We need the co-operation with the cattle industry. It is not much
different than foot-and-mouth disease,” Meyer said.
Besides looking at how fusarium can be managed in grain, another group
is looking at the feasibility of enforcing a zero tolerance program and
the possibility of only ensuring seed grain brought into the province
is certified fusarium free.
