Frustration about the flow of American canola into southern Manitoba has stirred talk that growers may demand some form of trade action.
Canola prices are depressed and American growers have gained an edge in the marketplace through their government programs, including the loan deficiency payment. The payment helps shelter American growers from low prices or years of poor crop production.
What riles growers in Manitoba is the sight of American trucks lined up to deliver canola to the CanAmera crushing plant at Altona, Man. The plant is located a short drive from the Canada/United States border.
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“I hear a lot of talk about a trade challenge,” said Steve Siemens, who farms near the crushing plant.
“I cannot blame producers for being disgruntled about it. The optics of it can get any producer frustrated.”
While he suggests there are grounds for a trade complaint, Siemens said he is not seeking any kind of action.
He is aware that much of the American canola crushed at Altona gets shipped back to the U.S. as oil and meal. And he said the viability of the plant is improved by having access to raw canola from the U.S.
Ernie Sirski, the president of the Manitoba Canola Growers Association, said he understands the frustration of growers in the Altona area.
But Sirski said launching a trade challenge to slow the flow of American canola into southern Manitoba could backfire. For example, he said, the Americans could retaliate by testing for pesticide residues in canola exports to the U.S. Any residue discovered from pesticides not registered in the U.S. could be used as a premise to turn back Canadian canola at the border.
“The loss of that market would further depress our canola prices,” Sirski said. “I don’t know that it would happen but there is the potential for it.”
Sirski cited numbers showing the balance of trade in canola remains vastly in Canada’s favor.
During the first eight months of 2000, Canada shipped $400 million in canola seed, oil and meal to the U.S. The value of American canola imported to Canada was $16 million.
Instead of pursuing trade action, Sirski wants Canada’s federal government to increase price supports for its canola growers. He has written prime minister Jean Chrétien asking that price supports for western Canadian farmers be raised to the same level as those for American growers.
“If the Americans aren’t going to come down, I guess we’re going to have to start going up.”
About a year ago, canola growers in the Altona area wanted to learn what effect the American canola imports were having on them.
Bill Toews, a producer from Kane, Man., and a district director for Keystone Agricultural Producers at the time, tried to conduct a fact-finding mission but said the Manitoba Canola Growers Association was not interested and the effort stalled.
