Input costs were significantly lower this spring for some farmers who used a herbicide-specific import program.
“Morally, it’s uplifting,” said Jason Hodson, who farms northeast of Virden, Man. “Finally, something is coming down on us in terms of our cost structure.”
The own-use import program saved Hodson alittle less than $5,000 in herbicide costs this spring. The program, facilitated by the Farmers of North America, allowed growers to import ClearOut 41 Plus, a glyphosate herbicide from the United States, at a lower cost than Canadian glyphosate.
“Average (FNA) member use was close to 2,000 litres and the average savings for producers was $4,289,” said Jim Mann, president of the farmers’ buying group.
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Mann said it was an average saving of up to $2 per litre.
This was the first year ClearOut 41 Plus was imported. Karen McCullagh of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency said about 4.5 million litres of the product have been imported under the program.
Hodson ordered 2,000 litres this year, but hopes to buy double that next year.
“For our farm, that means next year we will probably save in the order of $8-$10,000 on our farm,” Hodson said. “And I guess given this overall environment of extremely difficult farming financially, that’s a pretty huge savings.”
The story is much the same for Darren Watson. The Avonlea, Sask., farmer saved more than $5,000 and was pleased with the simple application process.
“You know, there is a bit of paperwork to fill out. I think it probably took me about half an hour,” said Watson.
Mann said response to the import program was overwhelming. He said about two-thirds of the FNA’s 5,000-member’s took part.
Mann thinks more members will participate next year because they will have more time to apply. Pre-purchasing and a late start detracted from the program.
“Some producers had bought product already in the fall and had made other arrangements under some of the programs that some of the manufacturers offer,” Mann said.
The chemical was an overall success in Canada, he added.
“There has not been one case of where there were concerns the product did not do what it was supposed to do. And that’s amazing.”
Added Hodson: “I thought it was superior to some of the other sort of generic products that we’ve been using. It absolutely worked, at expectations and even beyond expectations.”
Watson said there is no reason the product would not work as well as Canadian products.
“It is exactly, like molecularly, the same as something that we have here. It works exactly the same,” said Watson.
“So any idea of safety or quality concerns, that’s unreasonable and unfounded.”
Growers can place their orders for next year already. Mann said no changes were made to the process because there were no significant problems.
“As with any paperwork, there’s always, you know, the wrong number put on the wrong line or something like that,” he said. “But they’re mostly just clerical things and we go through a quality control here to ease the process for farmers.”
Farmers must indicate the intended use for the product, the number of litres needed and the location of the application. The grower also assumes all liability for the product.
