Agriculture is the backbone that feeds, clothes, and helps house Canadians. It is essential that the issues the industry faces become part of the current election debate. The Canadian Seed Trade Association encourages candidates in the election to focus on:

·     the pressing need for comprehensive, long-term, integrated policy on agriculture that encourages value-added opportunities for our farmers.

·     the farm income crisis, which must be addressed in the short-term and the long-term.

“Our farmers and our industry can compete with producers in all areas of the globe. We are well educated, we embrace technology and change, and we produce the highest quality,” says CSTA President John Cowan. “However, we must have well-defined, long-term supportive agricultural policy to ensure the sustainability of Canadian agriculture.”

Farmers, seed companies, grain companies, and agricultural input suppliers have been urged to be innovative and efficient over the last 20 years. The industry has risen to this challenge by reducing herbicide and pesticide usage through the use of technology and biotechnology and by developing equipment and products that ensure better seed placement, seed survival, disease resistance, and ultimately increased yields.  As well, new specialized market opportunities have been found and filled by the Canadian agricultural industry for Canadian crops.

Despite all of these accomplishments, CSTA shares the concerns of farm organizations that the entire agricultural sector in Canada is falling behind in terms of income and the ability to invest in our future.

“While other nations have the kind of agricultural policies that enable farmers and agricultural businesses to look ahead and to continue investment in the future,  in Canada we struggle to survive from one spring planting season to the next. If this situation continues we will find ourselves lagging other nations in terms of innovation, and competitiveness,” Cowan notes. 

CSTA welcomes the efforts of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Grain Growers of Canada, and others who are also engaged in drawing attention to the critical issues facing agriculture during the election.