War in Ukraine | Federal aid is insufficient for farmers, laments the UPA

The war in Ukraine is having a negative impact on Quebec farmers and the federal aid proposed to date, namely an improvement to the Advance Payments Program, is insufficient, believes the Union des producteurs agricole (UPA).

Andre Duchesne
The Press

“What we are proposing is good, but clearly insufficient, considers Charles-Félix Ross, director general of the UPA. We are talking about 61 million over two years. However, according to our estimates, the operating expenses of producers will increase by 1.5 billion on a turnover of around 11 billion, in 2022.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has a double effect on the agricultural world, in Quebec and elsewhere in the world. First, the harvests of Ukrainian farmers who continue their work are down. And the stocks remain stuck in the ports or are looted by the Russians. The price of cereals is affected on the rise. As for Russian products, including fertilizers, they are prohibited from purchase or heavily taxed, especially in Canada (35%). However, it is the buyers – the farmers – who pay for this surplus.

In Ottawa, the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food announced an increase from $100,000 to $250,000 in the limit on interest-free advances made to farmers at the start of the season for the purchase of inputs (fuel, fertilizer , seeds), for 2022-2023. This improvement to the Advance Payments Program (APP) allows farmers to have more cash.

In the office of Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, it is estimated that 11,000 farmers will benefit from it. However, replies Charles-Félix Ross, there are 190,000 farms in Canada, according to the most recent census. All are not affected in the same way, depending on the type of production, but the whole industry is weakened, he continues.

A possible new rise in interest rates also worries the leader of the UPA. “The short- and medium-term debt of Quebec farmers is $25 billion,” he says. A 1 percentage point increase in interest rates therefore means additional costs of 250 million, although some, if they have a five-year loan, will be less affected. »

In Quebec, there were no such announcements, but the situation is being monitored on a daily basis. “The message sent to La Financière agricole is to make the most of existing programs and to have as much flexibility as possible to help producers,” says Simon Bachand, director of communications in the office of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne.

100 million for potash

In addition, Canada’s Department of Innovation, through its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), recently invested $100 million in Australian giant BHP’s potash plant in Jansen, Saskatchewan, to make it “the cleanest in the world” in CO emissions₂.

The request for funding for this project was made before the start of the war, underlines the Ministry of Innovation, while adding that “the importance of potash as a critical mineral has been further highlighted by the unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine by Russia”.

In a Radio-Canada report, BHP President Mike Henry acknowledged that the dispute was having a negative impact on supplies of potash, one of the three fertilizers used by farmers, along with nitrogen and phosphorus.

This is also indicated by Maurice Doyon, full professor at the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences at Laval University. “Russians and Ukrainians are big fertilizer producers,” he says. But we no longer buy Russian products. »

Canada is also directly assisting Ukrainian farmers in their work to continue producing grain.

Ottawa has thus granted 50 million for the purchase of mobile silos intended to store grain until the conflict is settled or Ukraine has access to the market.

“Properly dried cereals can be stored for up to four years, but weather conditions can affect the required times,” Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said in an email. Cold, dry winters, like those in Canada and Ukraine, help store grain for longer periods of time, as it not only reduces moisture levels, but also eliminates most insect-related problems. »