July 15, 2020 – Ottawa, ON. On behalf of its members and board of directors, the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) are pleased to welcome their newest member, the newly-formed Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA).

MCA was formed through the amalgamation of five separate commodity groups in Manitoba – Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association, Manitoba Corn Growers Association, National Sunflower Association of Canada, Winter Cereals Manitoba Inc. and Manitoba Flax Growers Association. The organization will continue to represent wheat (spring & winter), barley, corn, sunflower and flax, and officially begins collecting check-off levies from the sales of these crops starting on August 1, 2020.

“Joining GGC was one of our first decisions upon amalgamation because it fits within MCA’s mandate to work with key industry stakeholders to develop and support existing markets, ensuring efficiencies and a focused approach to national priorities,” said MCA chair, Fred Greig. “We look forward to building a strong working relationship with GGC and providing them with input from our farmer members on policy that affects agriculture in our province.”

GGC and MCA will be jointly focused on improving the competitiveness of Canadian agriculture on both the domestic and international front.

Canada’s grain growers will also benefit from MCA’s perspective on many issues, one that represents 8,000-plus Manitoba farmers and 40 percent of the province’s field crops produced.

“MCA is an organization that represents so many different crops and having them on board will further increase the diversity of our membership. When we have more voices at the table, we are an even stronger advocate for all farmers,” said GGC Chair, Jeff Nielsen. “As Canada’s united grower voice, we understand how critical it is for our country’s farmers to come together under strong leadership to drive innovation, profitability, and sustainability for our industry.”

For more information, please contact:

Cole Christensen

Communications Consultant

403-589-3529

media@ggc-pgc.ca

For more information

Hayley Stacey
Communications Lead
P: 204-804-3333
E: media@ggc-pgc.ca

Grain Growers of Canada provides a strong national voice for over 65,000 active and successful grain, oilseed and pulse producers through its 15 provincial, regional and national grower groups. Our mission and mandate are to pursue a policy environment that maximizes global competitiveness and to influence federal policy on behalf of independent Canadian grain farmers and their associations.

(Ottawa, Ontario) May 5, 2020 – Following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement of a $252-million relief package for agriculture and agri-food, Canada’s grain growers are left disappointed by the long-term challenges that this measure fails to address.

“While we recognize the urgent challenges faced by other commodities, today’s announcement does nothing for grain farmers,” said GGC chair Jeff Nielsen. “This relief package offers no resolution to our existing issues, which result from long-standing market access challenges, rail blockades, and 2019’s harvest from hell.”

As net farm incomes continue to plummet, the federal government has only offered relief programs that are either not applicable to the majority of farms or prioritize access to debt for already highly leveraged farmers. This relief package, unfortunately, maintains that trend.

GGC has repeatedly stressed to the federal government that the AgriStability program is the most effective way to provide a safety net for all types of farmers who need it. Not only does it already have universal buy-in among the industry’s sectors, it provides targeted support to more efficiently address the challenges that the federal government has sought to remedy.

“Our Minister of Agriculture has already indicated that programs like AgriStability ‘need to be improved’, so why not start today?” added Nielsen. “The only way forward is to implement the changes that we have asked for to support Canadian farmers this year and help us to rebuild their businesses for a post-COVID-19 world.”

For over a year, GGC has asked that AgriStability receive an infusion of funds, which will allow the program to cover losses starting at 85 per cent of historical reference margins and eliminate of the Reference Margin Limit while encouraging farmers to retroactively enroll for 2019-20.

During today’s press briefing, the Prime Minister stated that, “We will be there for our agricultural producers because they are so important to all Canadians. The hard work they do and the support they give us all needs to be respected, reflected on, and mostly, supported.” GGC hopes that the Prime Minister will act on these sentiments and support Canadian farmers.

“We have provided the government with these proactive, practical measures to give farmers the tools they need to succeed,” said Nielsen.” We ask now that the federal government take a leadership role and decisively implement the concrete solutions that we have outlined.”

For more information, contact:

Cole Christensen

Communications Consultant, Grain Growers of Canada

Email: media@ggc-ppc.ca

Grain Growers of Canada provides a strong national voice for over 65,000 active and successful grain, oilseed and pulse producers through its 15 provincial, regional and national grower groups. Our mission and mandate are to pursue a policy environment that maximizes global competitiveness and to influence federal policy on behalf of independent Canadian grain farmers and their associations.

In response to today’s announcement by the federal government, we would like to extend our appreciation for their recognition of the essential role that farmers play in our economy.

On behalf of Canada’s grain farmers, we will continue to advocate for more comprehensive business risk management programs to ensure farmers have meaningful support during challenging times. These measures should include direct stimulus through existing funding mechanisms.

The bottom line is that farmers need tools to succeed – not the freedom to drown in debt.

As an industry, we have put forward recommendations to the government. We look forward to working with them to ensure they are put in place in a timely manner.

(Ottawa, Ontario) March 11, 2020 – Upon news that Senator Diane Griffin has brought forward Senate Public Bill S-215 for debate, the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) are calling on all Senators to support the bill which would exempt natural gas and propane from the carbon tax.

“We are very pleased that Sen. Griffin has brought forward this legislation so early in the parliamentary session,” said GGC chair Jeff Nielsen. “This bill lessens the burden of the carbon tax on our farmer members ahead of a crucial spring seeding season.”

On behalf of Canada’s grain farmers, GGC implores Senators to demonstrate unanimous support of Bill S-215 in the Upper Chamber and quickly advance this legislation forward to Committee.

“We must work collaboratively so that farmers are recognized for their environmental stewardship and to achieve the government’s twin goals of mitigating climate change and increasing the agri-food sector’s competitiveness,” explained Sen. Griffin.

In Sen. Griffin’s speech, she indicated that farmers are unable to mitigate costs of the carbon tax through direct action – as critical measures like drying grain are not a “discretionary fuel use.” She also reiterated the importance of maintaining agriculture’s competitiveness in order to meet the federal government’s states goal of $85 billion in agri-food exports by 2025.

“Senator Griffin articulated very well just why the carbon tax is simply not workable for farmers, and why these broader exemptions for fuel used to dry our grain is so important right now,” added Nielsen. “After the 2019 ‘Harvest from Hell,’ paying additional taxes to dry grain that would otherwise rot in the bin or be sold at a steep discount just adds insult to injury. There are simply no alternatives to fossil fuels to dry our grain and those costs are coming at a time that farmers can afford it least.”

The Senate Bill S-215 is similar in nature to Bill C-206, tabled by MP Philip Lawrence, which is expected to be debated in the House of Commons in the coming weeks. GGC is supportive of both pieces of legislation and hopeful that either will be passed into law in advance of the 2020 harvest to ensure the taxes are not applied to the cost of grain drying this fall.

“Given the clear desire for this legislative change in both Chambers and across Party lines, our hope is that the federal government would include broader exemptions for all fuels used in farming operations in the Budget Implementation Act – once tabled,” said Nielsen. “This is not about politics. This is about the sustainability of the family farm in Canada.”

The full text of Senator Griffin’s speech can be found here 

For more information, contact:

Cole Christensen
Communications Consultant
Email: media@ggc-ppc.ca
Phone: 403-589-3529

Grain Growers of Canada provides a strong national voice for over 65,000 active and successful grain, oilseed and pulse producers through its 15 provincial, regional and national grower groups. Our mission and mandate are to pursue a policy environment that maximizes global competitiveness and to influence federal policy on behalf of independent Canadian grain farmers and their associations.

(OTTAWA) Feb. 20, 2020 – The Grain Growers of Canada (GCC) strongly support the Senate Public Bill S-215 brought forward by Senator Diane Griffin to exempt natural gas and propane from the carbon tax.

“This past year’s harvest from hell was difficult for grain growers across this country,” said GGC chair Jeff Nielsen. “We are so pleased that Senator Griffin brought forth this bill to recognize that farmers need immediate relief from the mounting costs to our bottom line.”

The bill from Senator Griffin was driven by her experience as former chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry in the last parliamentary session. In the 2018 Senate report from the aforementioned committee, entitled “Feast or Famine: Impacts of climate change and carbon pricing on agriculture, agri-food and forestry,” recommendations were made to broaden the exemptions for agriculture. The report specifically advocated for the exemption of propane and natural gas for all farming operations from the carbon tax – including costs to heat or cool a structure.

The legislation tabled on Tuesday of this week follows those recommendations and seeks to include exemptions that should have been in place since the implementation of the Greenhouse Gas Pricing Pollution Act.

Senator Griffin’s bill was tabled the same day as a similar piece of legislation in the House of Commons from Member of Parliament Philip Lawrence. While the two pieces of legislation are not identical, the GGC is happy to support both and will advocate strongly for them as they go up for debate in the respective chambers.

“In committee, farmers consistently indicated that they should be treated fairly regardless of the crop they grow or the livestock they raise. The government said that they require more evidence on how the carbon tax is impacting farmers,” said Senator Griffin. “My bill is complementary to a similar bill in the House of Commons. However, a Senate committee is the quickest path in Parliament to collect this evidence and provide the government and parliamentarians with recommendations.”

“It is a very important step forward to see Sen. Griffin and MP Lawrence recognize the urgent need to support Canada’s grain farmers,” added Nielsen. “This will not be the challenging harvest and farmers need a legislative environment that reflects this new reality.”

GGC expects that these bills will demonstrate that elected officials of all political stripes recognize the importance of immediate action. We urge all parliamentarians to support these critical pieces of legislation.

About Grain Growers of Canada
GGC provides a strong national voice for over 65,000 active and successful grain, oilseed and pulse producers through its 16 provincial, regional and national grower groups. As a farmer-driven association, GGC advocates for the federal government to take decisions that support the competitiveness and profitability of grain growers across Canada.

Media Contact:
Lindsey Ehman
Manager, Member and Partner Engagement
(o): 613-233-9954 ext. 202
(c): 613-222-2726
(e): lehman@ggc-pgc.ca
www.ggc-pgc.ca

Read the PDF here

Grain Growers of Canada launch harvestfromhell.ca – a platform for farmers to share the impact of the carbon tax on their farms

OTTAWA (February 18, 2020) – On behalf of Canada’s grain, oilseed and pulse producers, the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) are calling for action from the federal government to support farmers after the harvest from hell.

“We have received broad support from opposition parties calling for immediate relief from the carbon tax for farmers after the disaster that was last year’s harvest,” said GGC chair Jeff Nielsen. “We now need our federal government to step up.”

As part of this action, GGC ask that our farmer members be directly reimbursed from the federal government for the millions of extra dollars they have paid to dry their grain as a result of the carbon tax.

With a changing climate, the new reality is that there will be future years where significant grain drying is required for farmers across Canada. Therefore, the most appropriate solution for both farmers and the government is to completely exempt all fuels used in farming operations from the carbon tax. A full fuel exemption will avoid the need for any future relief measures after events like last year’s harvest.

“This issue is too important to delay,” added Nielsen. “We are working with our member groups to compile data and share the real cost of the carbon tax with Hon. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. This is why we have launched harvestfromhell.ca. It is an important avenue for farmers to demonstrate the burden that the carbon tax has inflicted on their operations.”

On the newly launched platform, farmers are invited to share their #harvestfromhell story and post their grain drying bill to help communicate the full cost of the carbon tax after 2019’s ‘Harvest from Hell’. The website will also feature infographics and videos that speak to the urgency of the situation and can be easily shared via social media.

For more information, visit www.harvestfromhell.ca.

About Grain Growers of Canada
GGC provides a strong national voice for over 65,000 active and successful grain, oilseed and pulse producers through its 16 provincial, regional and national grower groups. As a farmer-driven association, GGC advocates for the federal government to take decisions that support the competitiveness and profitability of grain growers across Canada.

Media Contact:
Lindsey Ehman
Manager, Member and Partner Engagement
(o): 613-233-9954 ext. 202
(c): 613-222-2726
(e): lehman@ggc-pgc.ca

OTTAWA (February 13, 2020) – On behalf of Canadian grain, oilseed and pulse producers, the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) are imploring the federal government to seek a resolution to the rail delays.

“These delays caused by the blockades will have immediate, unintended consequences for farmers across the country,” said GGC Chair Jeff Nielsen. “As farmers, we work hard to grow the best crops for our markets around the world. By cutting us off from our customers our industry, economy, and, ultimately, our reputation as a reliable shipper is at risk.”

GGC represents farmers from coast-to-coast who generate billions in economic activity for our world-class grain. In fact, the majority of what GGC members produce is destined for international markets and ports around the globe.

“We are an industry that relies on export markets in order to survive and thrive. Without access to these markets via rail, we risk compounding further losses on top of what has already been a harvest from hell,” added Nielsen.

These delays – on top of the existing supply chain challenges from a previous CN strike and a cold spell across the prairies – have contributed to an already difficult winter. A timely resolution is needed in order to get grain back on the trains.

Any delay may result in losing out on critical markets that purchase our grains and oilseeds through our eastern, western and southern corridors.

About Grain Growers of Canada
GGC provides a strong national voice for over 65,000 active and successful grain, oilseed and pulse producers through its 16 provincial, regional and national grower groups. As a farmer-driven association, GGC advocates for the federal government to take decisions that support the competitiveness and profitability of grain growers across Canada.

Media Contact:
Lindsey Ehman
Manager, Member and Partner Engagement
(o): 613-233-9954 ext. 202
(c): 613-222-2726
(e): lehman@ggc-pgc.ca

Download PDF

Statement from Grain Growers of Canada chair Jeff Nielsen on recent announcements from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada:

“We commend Hon. Agriculture Minister Bibeau on her announcement today of funding for a pilot insurance program to mitigate risk for grain exporters and a public trust ‘code of practice’ for grain production. This is in addition to Monday’s notice regarding the Efficient Grain Dryer Program for Alberta farmers who are seeking to cover partial costs for their grain drying equipment.

However, the Grain Growers of Canada are asking for a more immediate and decisive action in the form of a full exemption for fuel used on Canadian farms from the carbon tax.

These announcements have not changed the fact that farmers across the country are still facing an additional cost burden after the “Harvest from Hell” – at a time when they can afford it least.

These costs are adding up and Canada’s grain farmers cannot continue to pay the price for inaction. A complete exemption for all fuels used on the farm is what we need to avoid these crises in the future and provide farmers with the resources to continue doing what we do best.

This will not be the last time where farmers face a tough harvest. We need a legislative and regulatory environment that reflects contributions that Canadian farmers have and continue to make towards the climate solution – while ensuring a sustainable future for this important industry.”

About Grain Growers of Canada
GGC provides a strong national voice for over 65,000 active and successful grain, oilseed and pulse producers through its 16 provincial, regional and national grower groups. As a farmer-driven association, GGC advocates for the federal government to take decisions that support the competitiveness and profitability of grain growers across Canada.

Media Contact:
Lindsey Ehman
Manager, Member and Partner Engagement
(o): 613-233-9954 ext. 202
(c): 613-222-2726
(e): lehman@ggc-pgc.ca

Download PDF

Following a difficult harvest season, Canadian farmers should not be expected to pay increased taxes at a time when they can afford it least

OTTAWA (January 29, 2020) – On behalf of 65,000 Canadian grain, oilseed and pulse producers, the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) are calling for immediate action to support Canadian farmers who have just been through the harvest from hell.

In the short term, GGC farmer members should be directly reimbursed from the federal government for the millions of extra dollars in carbon tax they have paid to dry their grain.

“The 2019 harvest season has put undue burdens on farmers’ livelihoods and every part of the country has been hit hard,” said GGC chair Jeff Nielsen from his farm in Olds, AB. “Beyond just the crop left in the field, farmers have faced major grain drying expenses, courtesy of the federal carbon tax, to ensure at least some crops make it to market.”

After a difficult 2018, where net farm incomes dropped 45 per cent from the year prior, the trend has only worsened. Our federal government must recognize that farmers should not be faced with an additional tax burden that reduces their competitiveness in the global marketplace. Farmers contribute to environmental sustainability by sequestering carbon, reducing water and input use, and improving soil health. However, with no alternative to fossil fuels to dry grain, the carbon tax fails to recognize farmers’ contribution and instead relies on punitive measures.

GGC is working with member groups to compile data to provide to the Hon. Minister Bibeau to allow her department to find the best way forward. That said, this issue is too important to delay. The government needs to be looking at all available options to offer relief to farm families who are facing mounting costs. This is only a short-term solution, however. Grain drying is an annual requirement for many Canadian farmers. That is why the long-term solution is to fully exempt all fuels used on farming operations.

With a changing climate, there could be future years where significant grain drying is required for farmers to get their grain to market. The simplest solution for both farmers and the government is to completely exempt all fuels used in farming operations. This will avoid the need for any relief measures after events like last year’s harvest. Farmers require a legislative and regulatory environment that recognizes our positive contribution towards the climate solution to ensure a sustainable future for this vital industry.

“These costs are adding up and we cannot continue to pay the price for inaction,” added Nielsen. “A complete exemption for all fuels used on the farm is what farmers ultimately require to avoid these crises in the future and provide farmers with the resources to continue doing what we do best.”

About Grain Growers of Canada
GGC provides a strong national voice for over 65,000 active and successful grain, oilseed and pulse producers through its 16 provincial, regional and national grower groups. As a farmer-driven association, GGC advocates for the federal government to take decisions that support the competitiveness and profitability of grain growers across Canada.

Media Contact:
Lindsey Ehman
Manager, Member and Partner Engagement
(o): 613-233-9954 ext. 202
(c): 613-222-2726
(e): lehman@ggc-pgc.ca