CFA in Action - CFA GM's Meeting, 2017 Coin Designs...

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CFA GM's Meeting

CFA's General Managers met last week in beautiful Banff, Alberta for their annual meeting. The meeting was an excellent opportunity to hear about challenges and opportunities other organizations are facing, and the chance to share ideas and find more ways to work together going forward.

The managers discussed a wide variety of issues, including agriculture's social license, trade negotiations, the upcoming federal election, the next generation of agriculture policy, and environment and food safety issues. The group heard from David Herle of the Gandalf Group who spoke to the 2015 election and how to get the agriculture/food message front and centre - both during the campaign and post-election. The managers also heard from James Battershill of KAP and Reg Ens of BCAC, who discussed the challenges in dealing with small scale and large scale farmers within a membership. Corlena Patterson of the Canadian Sheep Federation and Guenette Bautz of the Canadian Young Farmers' Forum presented the commodity/regional specific issues within their organizations and discussed how we can work together as an agricultural community.

The CFA would like to thank Sheryl Rae and the Alberta Federation of Agriculture for hosting this year's meeting. The 2016 General Managers' meeting will be held in New Brunswick.

National Ag Leaders Debate

Don't forget to mark your calendars! The Canadian Federation of Agriculture is hosting a National Agriculture Leaders Debate in the lead up to the October 19 election. The debate will highlight issues facing Canadian farmers and give an opportunity for each party to outline its platform positions as they pertain to Canada's farm and food future.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 30, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (EDT)

WHERE: Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel (the Laurier Room), Ottawa

The debate will be available via webcast for those who cannot attend in person. We ask that you please register in advance for the webcast and RSVP if attending in person. Registration information, as well as details on farmers' priorities for the upcoming election, can be found here.

Building a Stronger Community and Country, One Egg at a Time

Canadian egg farmers are sharing their knowledge and expertise in Swaziland, and are working with local farmers to build an egg operation from the ground-up. Once complete, the farm will provide a locally produced and high-quality source of protein to thousands of people in the community who have diets that are short on or lack protein altogether. The project team, made up of Canadian egg farmers and staff, is working towards developing a long-term strategy to sustain the farm overtime. Please visit eggfarmers.ca to find out more.

Vote to See Canadian Ag Represented on 2017 Coins

2017 is going to be a big year for Canada and plans for numerous 150th anniversary celebrations are already in the works. To commemorate the occasion, the Royal Canadian Mint is gearing up to release special coins for 2017, which have been designed by talented individuals from across the country. Check out the creative designs here. Vote before October 9 to help get farmers showcased on this coin collection with the "Farmers - Our Lifeline" design! Best of all, you can vote as often as you like!

The Royal Canadian Mint will announce which design will go on each denomination in 2017.

APF Committee Update

CFA's Agriculture Policy Framework Committee held a teleconference on September 10 to review policy updates that further the development of CFA's positions for the next Agricultural Policy Framework. This call also provided an update on the progress of the two working groups that are tackling the key issues. While there remain a number of areas requiring further research, discussion and decision-making, the committee expects to present the completed policy position at CFA's AGM in February 2016.

For more information on this committee, please contact Drew Black at [email protected] or Scott Ross at [email protected].

AgriInvest Survey for Producers

Are you a producer who wants a better AgriInvest program? One with higher matching contributions that that allows you to better manage risk and invest in your farm? If yes, then the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and its member organizations need your help. Fill out this survey , it will only take three to five minutes, and help us get the information we need to design a better AgriInvest program.

Grower Request Own Use Program

The CFA is seeking nominations of pesticide products to consider for the Grower Request Own Use (GROU) program until Friday, October 9. The GROU program allows producers to import pesticide products from the U.S. provided the product is also available in Canada and chemically identical, past the exclusive use period and manufactured by the same company. This program is especially useful for products which remain much cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada.

The CFA hosts a page with a list of products that were nominated in previous years but were found to be ineligible. The current list of GROU products can be found here.

For more information or to nominate a product for the GROU program in the 2016 growing season, please contact Drew Black, CFA Director of Environment and Science Policy, at [email protected].