The value of Canada’s food exports continues to grow, although in the early months of the year, imports rose even faster and the food trade surplus contracted.
Statistics Canada reported last week that during the first two months of the year, the value of agricultural and fishery product exports was $3.787 billion, up almost three percent from last year’s record level.
During the same period, the value of food imports soared 11.7 percent to $2.74 billion.
Canada’s food trade surplus for the two months fell almost 15 percent to just over $1 billion.
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Feds post budget surplus
Although it is predicting only that the books will be balanced in the fiscal year that ended March 31, the federal government actually recorded a $4.1 billion surplus during the first 11 months of that year.
The finance department last week reported that to the end of February, there were revenues of $132 billion and expenditures of $128 billion.
And if not for servicing charges on the $600 billion federal debt, the operating surplus would have been $44 billion. Debt charges during the first 11 months of the year totaled $40 billion.
Agriculture Canada did more than its share to get spending down.
The finance department reported that during those 11 months, subsidies and transfers from the department to farmers fell 19.2 percent to $654 million.
The $155 million cut was one of the largest recorded by any department or policy area.
Spending on seniors, veterans, regional development and Indian affairs increased.
Funding for straw board
The Alberta Research Council has received $370,000 from Ottawa and Edmonton to develop a better way to manufacture straw board.
The federal government kicked in $210,000 and the provincial government added $160,000.
The money is to fund work to develop “innovative machinery for splitting wheat straw.”
The research project is designed to give Alberta farmers a new cash option for their excess straw, reduce straw burning, which adds pollution to the atmosphere, and reduce the need to cut Alberta forests for lumber.
Implement sales slow
The new year has started with less than a bang for farm machinery manufacturers and retailers.
According to the Canadian Farm and Industrial Equipment Institute, sales during the first three months of the year were sluggish.
Combine sales were down seven percent, four wheel-drive tractor sales fell 18 percent and total tractor sales were just able to maintain last year’s level.
Meanwhile, inventories of both tractors and combines are much higher than last year.
