Mark Wartman and George Groeneveld were seeking common ground during their meeting in Regina last week.
But the agriculture ministers from Saskatchewan and Alberta agreed to disagree on the issue of marketing choice for barley.
They met on the same day that federal minister Gerry Ritz announced Ottawa would appeal the court decision that maintained the Canadian Wheat Board’s export monopoly on barley.
“This was a positive meeting so we didn’t discuss (that issue) very much,” a chuckling Groeneveld told reporters.
He said Alberta would continue to support those who want marketing choice, while Wartman said Saskatchewan would back the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board through the appeal.
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“We just hold a very different view,” Wartman said.
But Groeneveld said they agreed on almost everything else.
The ministers, joined by Manitoba’s Rosann Wowchuk through a conference call, met to discuss the next agricultural policy framework and how it will best work for prairie farmers.
“As we gather again in the national body to look at APF 2 we will clearly have a solid western perspective,” said Wartman.
After the meeting, Wartman said many of the items on the agenda are still works in progress. One key area is disaster programming. There needs to be a better definition of what a disaster is and whether it’s covered by business risk management or a different program, he said.
A date for the next meeting of the federal and provincial agriculture ministers has not yet been set.
