Analyst says Canada can meet China’s canola requirements

Sep 01, 2016

Countries agreed to extension in dispute

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

An analyst with Weber Commodities Ltd. in Saskatoon believes Canada can meet China’s needs when it comes to canola imports.

Larry Weber looks at Canada’s wheat exports and sees no reason why canola can’t follow suit.

“If we can export 18 million tonnes of wheat with 0.5 per cent dockage, why can’t we ship four million tonnes to the Chinese with one per cent?” he told CBC.

Canola field

China, which accounts for about 40 per cent of Canadian canola exports, was scheduled to implement new regulations on September 1 that allows one per cent of dockage per tonne of canola. The current Canadian standard is 2.5 per cent of dockage per tonne.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is currently in China on his first official visit, where he and Chinese premier Li Keqiang announced an extension of the September 1 deadline.

"We're happy to reassure Canadian farmers that (at) the Sept. 1 deadline we will be able to continue with the current regime of canola and we (will) work together very closely towards a long-term solution in the coming days and weeks ahead," Trudeau said according to CBC.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.