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Agriculture Roundup for Wednesday January 19, 2022

Jan 19, 2022 | 1:47 PM

MELFORT, Sask. — The future of the seed regulatory system in Canada will be discussed during a series of online sessions.

Seeds Canada and its partners are hosting the summit on Feb. 7, 14, and 22.

Over the course of the three sessions, speakers will discuss what growers and end users need from the seed system and what role government should play in the relationship between seed seller and seed buyer.

The Seed Summit 2022 partners include Cereals Canada, Canola Council of Canada, Canadian Canola Growers Association, Canadian Horticultural Council, Western Canadian Wheat Growers, Soy Canada, Grains Farmers of Ontario, and the Ontario Agri-Business Association.

Event registration is available here.

Grain transport on the St. Lawrence Seaway experienced a sharp decline.

Movement of agricultural crops fell 20 per cent from 2020 levels to 10.6 million tonnes last year.

But shipments of iron ore, steel slabs and aluminum rebounded after a tough 2020 as the automotive and construction sectors revved up during the navigation season.

Excluding grain, overall tonnage was up 13 per cent.

Manitoba has a new agriculture minister.

Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson replaces Ralph Eichler after a cabinet shuffle on Tuesday.

Western Canadian Wheat Growers (WCWG) President Gunter Jochum said the organization is looking forward to a continued relationship with the department.

“The Wheat Growers have played a strong role in building agriculture policy that benefits growers, producers, consumers, and export markets. Much of this has been built through ongoing communication with our elected officials,” Jochum said in a news release.

There are several agriculture issues the WCWG has been involved with, including the impact of carbon tax on grain farmers, the proposed reduction in fertilizer, seed technology and modernization of the Canada Grain Act.

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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