Winter has gripped the farmland of Canada, with the thermometer holding at -21°C as I write this in early January. Another 15cm of snow has fallen over the last few hours.

Fortunately, the cold and snow was a few weeks behind schedule, which allowed us to finish the corn harvest on our 160ha grain and dairy farm.

The crops ended up yielding pretty average. Corn was around 494 bushels/ha, soya beans a little under 123 bu/ha and wheat around 185 bu/ha. The hay crop was the one that suffered from the dry July and August and record-breaking heat in September.

The 65 cows we milk did suffer a little through that as well. Average milk production fell by about 1,000kg, to just over 10,000kg annually for our purebred Holstein and Jersey herd.

We’re already seeing that pick back up now that we are on 2017 corn silage and alfalfa baleage, the two biggest ingredients that make up the bulk of the ration.

Cows here are housed inside almost exclusively, a result of trying to fend off the 40°C heat in the summer and the current -20°C cold of this time of year. With the winter here, meeting season is well under way, with all of the associations and farm suppliers holding their annual information meetings.

For dairy farmers, optimism at those meetings remains high. We’ve all been given increased quota allocations over the last few years as demand for butter and yogurt continue to climb. Dairy processors are investing at increasing their capacity, so more milk will be needed.

Farmers are responding as well, with the wait for a new barn to be built now over two years. Builders can’t keep up with demand.

On the grain side, a lower Canadian dollar and higher yields are helping offset the decline in prices. All of our grains are priced from the Chicago Board of Trade, so when our dollar is lower than the US dollar, the basis starts to climb. Without it, we would be looking at some significant shortfalls.

Trump

Speaking of the United States, it is the topic that every farmer is keeping an eye on.

President Trump’s call for a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has Canadian, American and Mexican negotiators trying to find some common ground. Unfortunately, that has proven to be pretty tough, since the US has made five demands that Canada and Mexico consider non-starters and aren’t likely to ever accept.

This new year will prove whether or not those demands get pulled back or whether the US pulls out of the agreement that has helped build significant cross-border traffic in beef, pork and grains. There is hope that the new Canada-EU free trade agreement, along with an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement that Canada is involved in with countries like Japan and Australia, will mean a more diverse trade portfolio for Canada.

Regardless though, the US is Canada’s number one customer, and Canada is the US’s number one customer – so if the border gets thicker, we’re all likely to see economic challenges.

Food system

The final note I’ll mention is the drive by more and more farmers here in Canada to help build trust and confidence in the food system.

Canadians are more interested in where their food comes from and how it is produced and some food companies and marketers have tried to take advantage, usually driving fear and guilt through food labels.

As that continues, farmers are using social media, farm tours and partnerships to trying to rebuild that trust in how food is produced. No easy feat, but it is a priority for many.

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