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By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Wednesday February 19, 2020

Feb 19, 2020 | 10:26 AM

The president of Maple Leaf Foods is calling on the federal government to take steps to immediately restore disrupted rail service.

Curtis Frank said Maple Leaf is dependent on timely transport for its perishable products and the company, along with many producers, need a reliable network for its exports or risk losing customers.

Anti-pipeline blockades have paralyzed rail service for almost two weeks.

Frank said Maple Leaf has tried to use alternatives such as trucking but many routes are already overwhelmed and costs are escalating.

He said the spot market for trucking between Winnipeg and Vancouver, for example, has nearly doubled since the blockades started.

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A Conservative MP from Ontario tabled a private member’s bill to amend the federal carbon tax to exempt qualifying farmers from paying the tax on gasoline, diesel fuel, propane and natural gas.

Philip Lawrence said farmers have faced unpredictable weather conditions, trade disruptions and global pricing instability.

He said the carbon tax is cutting farmers’ net income by over 12 per cent.

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said one option for relief for farmers facing high costs from the carbon tax for grain drying is to improve the business risk programs for farmers.

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Manitoba Pork has welcomed a grant of over $482,000 to help the group investigate the creation of private-sector livestock insurance.

The insurance would be to help producers recover from the economic hardship of a disease outbreak on their farms.

Manitoba Pork said an insurance consulting company will meet with key stakeholders and develop a model to determine the risk impacts of diseases.

The model will establish the premiums and coverage, adjusted to what the market is prepared to pay, with the intent of applying the insurance to the entire Canadian hog sector.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF