Alberta eases zero-tolerance for grain imports

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Published: June 20, 2002

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

Read Also

Man charged after assault at grain elevator

RCMP have charged a 51-year-old Weyburn man after an altercation at the Pioneer elevator at Corinne, Sask. July 22.

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.

explore

Stories from our other publications