'Future is pretty bright': Sask. farmers celebrate China's move to lift canola ban
With spring seeding in Saskatchewan well underway, farmers are beginning the growing season with some added assurance.
After three years, China has lifted the ban on Canadian canola.
Last week, China reinstated market access for two Canadian grain trading companies – Richardson International Ltd. and Viterra Inc., ending a three year diplomatic dispute.
“China has always been an important customer of Canada and Saskatchewan, and unfortunately, when they put the policy in place it definitely hurt the price of canola especially two, three years ago,” Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan past president Todd Lewis said.
“At this point, we have great demand for canola and canola products and this is just going to increase that demand. So it is good news.”
According to figures from Canola Council of Canada, seed exports to China have fallen from $2.8 billion in 2018 before the restrictions, to $800 million in 2019, $1.4 billion in 2020 and $1.8 billion in 2021.
The council said the Chinese ban cost the industry between $1.54 and $2.35 billion from lost sales and lower prices between March 2019 and August 2020 alone.
“This is a positive step forward, restoring full trade in canola with China and ensuring that all Canadian exporters are treated equally by the Chinese administration,” Jim Everson, president of the Canola Council of Canada, said on the group’s website.
Canada is the world’s largest producer of canola, with Saskatchewan playing a major part in that.
“Well, Saskatchewan is the world leader in canola,” Lewis said. “The future is pretty bright this year for those producers that can grow some canola, especially after last year's weather-related issues.”
Jim Wickett farms in the Rosetown area. While he didn’t grow canola last year, he said he certainly felt the pinch created by China’s ban.
“I think every farmer was directly impacted. It certainly affected some of the other oil seeds. (It’s) just the nature of the market. The prices go down or are in some kind of relation to the oil complex. That artificially held the price down, (then) we had a large drought last year, and that certainly set the stage for prices to climb,” he said.
While he can’t determine what will happen to the market in the coming months, he doesn’t imagine the ban being lifted will greatly impact canola prices this spring and summer.
However, Lewis thinks having one more place for farmers to market their canola and therefore creating more competition in the marketplace should be beneficial for the provincial economy.
“We're going through a stage now where food is being seen as more and more important, and we're fortunate here in Saskatchewan. We have an abundance of production and we export so much of our crop and it really is a major driver in the economy here in the province,” he said.
One concern for all producers is the rising costs of getting seed in the ground. With inflation sending fuel prices to record highs, having any export bans lifted on Saskatchewan’s most notable crop is welcome news for producers.
“Probably the most expensive crop we're ever going to put into the ground between diesel fuel prices and fertilizer prices and other inputs as well,” Lewis said.
“So, it's important that we have good canola prices, and it's really gonna help the viability of the industry here in the province.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.