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By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Thursday December 5, 2019

Dec 5, 2019 | 9:50 AM

The federal agriculture minister said the government will ensure dairy farmers have access to compensation as quickly as possible after they lost domestic market share from free trade agreements.

Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a statement she is confident compensation for the poultry and egg sectors will be finalized in the near future.

She also wants to ensure agriculture sector has access to risk management programs that suit it.

She says federal, provincial and territorial ministers will discuss risk management programs, particularly the AgriStability program, at their next meeting later this month.

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An outbreak of African swine fever in Poland near the German border is killing wild boar as officials try to keep the infectious viral disease from spreading.

Authorities are adding to a special fence built to keep the wild boar away from hog farms.

Hunters are also being encouraged to eliminate all wild boar in some areas.

Earlier this year, amid protests from animal rights groups, hunters killed 270,000 wild boar in eastern Poland in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading.

African swine fever, which poses a threat to swine herds but does not affect people, has never been found in Canada and federal officials are trying to keep it that way.

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The average Canadian family will pay up to an extra $487 on food next year.

That is according to an annual food price report that highlights climate change as a major culprit for rising food prices.

The report says the effect of changing weather patterns on food systems through droughts, wildfires, heavy precipitation, reduced freshwater access and rising sea levels will be the elephant in the room next year.

It says Canadian farmers will face challenges dealing with unpredictable crop yields, heat-wave livestock threats, pasture availability, as well as pest and disease outbreaks.

Next year, researchers expect price increases in all eight food categories with the biggest jump of four to six per cent in meat products.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF