Farmers Urged To Push Trade During Pending Federal Election

Aug 14, 2019

Voters are being encouraged to push the topic of trade with area candidates running in the upcoming federal election.

With growing world protectionism, Cereals Canada President Cam Dahl says political parties need to present a comprehensive approach to protecting the country's trading interests. He adds if Canada doesn't refocus its trade policy, thousands of jobs will continue to be at risk because of agricultural trade disputes.

"If you go back in time and think about before we had an agreement with Europe or the Trans Pacific Partnership, there really was a push for broad trade agreements that were focused primarily on getting tariffs down, controlling tariffs, as well as putting into place rules of trade and that really has benefited Canadian agriculture," explained Dahl, adding however, things have changed and the world has entered in to a new age of protectionism. "We just have to look at what's happening between China and the United States right now to see that," said Dahl.

Dahl says farmers need to challenge candidates and their parties to outline their plan to protect agriculture growth, investment and jobs. He has even provided three questions that he says every candidate should face in the upcoming election.

The first being "What is your party’s comprehensive plan to deal with non-tariff trade barriers facing agriculture?".

The second question inquires whether a candidate's party will use Canada's existing trade agreement to systematically challenge non-tariff trade barriers.

"We have a trade agreement with Europe and since we've signed it our durum exports to Europe have fallen by sixty per cent," said Dahl. "I look at what Italy has done on the Country of Origin Labelling and I don't see that as being compliant with the trade agreement...and so are parties going to be willing to take that step and use the dispute resolution provisions of those agreements to challenge protectionist activity? We really do need to see a shift in governments being willing to do that," he added.

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Video: How farmers are protecting the soil and our food security | DW Documentary

For a long time, soil was all but ignored. But for years, the valuable humus layer has been thinning. Farmers in Brandenburg are clearly feeling the effects of this on their sandy fields. Many are now taking steps to prepare their farms for the future.

Years of drought, record rainfall and failed harvests: we are becoming increasingly aware of how sensitively our environment reacts to extreme weather conditions. Farmers' livelihoods are at stake. So is the ability of consumers to afford food.

For a few years now, agriculture that focuses solely on maximum yields has been regarded with increasing skepticism. It is becoming more and more clear just how dependent we are on healthy soils.

Brandenburg is the federal state with the worst soil quality in Germany. The already thin, fertile humus layer has been shrinking for decades. Researchers and farmers who are keen to experiment are combating these developments and looking for solutions. Priority is being given to building up the humus layer, which consists of microorganisms and fungi, as well as springtails, small worms and centipedes.

For Lena and Philipp Adler, two young vegetable farmers, the tiny soil creatures are invaluable helpers. On their three-hectare organic farm, they rely on simple, mechanical weed control, fallow areas where the soil can recover, and diversity. Conventional farmer Mark Dümichen also does everything he can to protect soil life on his land. For years, he has not tilled the soil after the harvest and sows directly into the field. His yields have stabilized since he began to work this way.

Isabella Krause from Regionalwert AG Berlin-Brandenburg is convinced after the experiences of the last hot summers that new crops will thrive on Brandenburg's fields in the long term. She has founded a network of farmers who are promoting the cultivation of chickpeas with support from the scientific community.