Blog: Industry Partners

As member of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC), Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) participated in the 2024 Canada-China Barley Seminar in Qingdao, China, from June 19-20. This CMBTC-hosted seminar aimed to strengthen relationships with a key market for Canadian barley by connecting the Canadian barley value chain with Chinese maltsters and brewers.

“The seminar provided a unique platform for the Canadian barley value chain to engage directly with Chinese maltsters and brewers to cover critical aspects of Canadian barley supply and quality, production practices and sustainability,” says CMBTC chair Jon White. “China is a key market for Canadian barley. This event was pivotal in showcasing our superior quality to our end users.”

Farmers, as well as representatives from Canada’s world class barley breeding programs and grain suppliers, represented the Canadian barley value chain at the seminar.

Meetings were held at Tsingtao Brewery and Hyaline Malting Co., with a concurrent conference. Tsingtao Brewery was founded in 1903 and is ranked in the top five global brewers. Hyaline Malting, a former naval air base turned into a malt processing plant, has supplied Tsingtao Brewery with malt since 2005.

MCA director and wheat and barley crop committee delegate Sheila Elder travelled to Qingdao to represent MCA. She joined two other farmers and a representative from Richardson on a panel discussing the sustainability of Canadian grain production.

Elder was asked about Manitoba’s “much wetter” climate compared to the other two Prairie provinces. “Although the last couple of years have not felt so wet, this year is a different story,” she says.

“This led me to talk about how yield is not our only objective when choosing a variety; we need a variety that has resistance to Fusarium and is not as prone to lodging as earlier varieties were. Fortunately, thanks to our world-class breeders, we have great options to choose from.”

On the theme of collaboration, Elder also highlighted some of the resources farmers have access to in Canada to help them make the best management decisions throughout the growing season. These include access to highly trained experts, such as crop pathologists, entomologists, weed specialists, crop specialists and agronomists, as well as commodity organizations like MCA who have agronomists on staff.

The importance of farmer participation in the seminar was evident. Farmers like Elder could address Chinese maltsters and brewers’ specific questions and concerns about barley production, fostering trust and strengthening the relationship between our two countries.

Sheila also talked about how much pride farmers take in growing the best crops possible, as well as the importance of collaboration within the industry.

At one meeting with brewers, glyphosate came up as a concern. White, who in addition to being chair of CMBTC is also a merchandiser with Viterra, addressed this by explaining how malt barley samples are probed and tested at many different stages, reinforcing how well malt barley is tested for glyphosate.

It was evident to Elder that having many parts of the barley value chain represented at the seminar was important for the Chinese maltsters and brewers. “It was quite clear they value building relationships through face-to-face meetings and would like to see those from the value chain more often.”

With China’s doors open to trade with Australia, the seminar arrived at an important moment. Canada’s barley is well known for its high quality, but that quality comes at a premium, partly due to longer shipping distances and related costs when compared with Australia, for example.

“In today’s competitive global market, seizing opportunities to foster trusted and mutually beneficial relationships at home and around the world is crucial” says CMBTC managing director Peter Watts.

“End users are keenly interested in the systems and standards that distinguish Canada’s barley supply, quality and performance. This seminar was tailored to address the evolving needs and interests of international end users, who seek products that will meet their current and future needs, as well as insights into the Canadian system.”

On June 27, a delegation from Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) toured Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) director Doug Martin’s farm near East Selkirk, MB. In addition to Martin, MCA was represented during the farm tour by agronomy extension specialist for cereal crops Andrew Hector.

The tour was an excellent learning experience for the Japanese delegation and a great opportunity for MCA to interact directly with representatives from an important market for Manitoba agricultural products.

Members of the Japanese delegation typically communicate with grain buyers or suppliers, who provide them with information about grain quality and production practices, but they don’t often have the chance to interact with farmers. This led them to reach out to Cereals Canada, who then worked with MCA to help facilitate the event. The delegation had a desire to better understand the practices farmers are using firsthand, which is why they valued participating in the farm tour.

During the tour, members of the MAFF group asked specific and pointed questions regarding crop production practices used on the farm. They were also interested in how specific pieces of equipment work, what fungicides are used and at what frequency, and types and timings of fertilizer application. Additionally, there was a strong interest in on-farm grain storage and how the grain is transported to ports.

The MAFF is important in the Japanese market in that they set the contracts and associated terms for wheat importers that the importers then execute. They also control import regulatory tolerances for cereals.

Japan is a longstanding, quality-conscious purchaser of Canadian wheat. According to Cereals Canada, Japan imported an average of 1.62 million tonnes annually from 2018 to 2022, valued at $631 million. Meanwhile, Manitoba-specific data shows Japan is the province’s third-largest wheat export market, with an annual export average of 325,759 tonnes from 2018 to 2022, valued at $127 million.

Article provided by Grain Growers of Canada

Grain Growers of Canada’s (GGC) annual Grains Week is a three-day event packed with back-to-back meetings with parliamentarians and decision-makers to advocate for agriculture policy solutions. Over 20 dedicated grain farmers from across Canada converged in Ottawa for a series of strategic meetings, including MCA directors Jonothan Hodson, who also sits on the GGC board of directors, and Sally Parsonage.

The week was filled with substantial discussions with nearly 30 key decision-makers in the agricultural sphere, including MPs, senators and top government officials. Discussions were held with prominent leaders, such as Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, Leader of the Official Opposition Pierre Poilievre, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay and Minister of Rural Economic Development Gudie Hutchings.

“Events like Grains Week offer farmers a chance to speak directly with parliamentarians and decision-makers about issues we are facing on the farm,” Parsonage says. “We also highlight the continuous progress farmers have made towards a sustainable and productive agriculture sector in Canada.”

Our conversations were focused, productive and centered around advancing 10 key policy recommendations crucial for the sustainable growth of agriculture in Canada.

The week also featured a memorable parliamentary reception the following evening where nearly 50 MPs and senators participated, engaging in robust dialogue and forming grassroot connections with the grain growing community. Minister MacAulay’s opening remarks also set the stage for an engaging evening, which was supported by Beer Canada and Spirits Canada. Their partnership beautifully demonstrated the journey of our grain from the fields to the reception tables, emphasizing how our hard-working growers cultivate the quality of the Canadian products we enjoy.

“Grains Week is important to Manitoba farmers because it is an opportunity for MCA and other GGC member organizations to highlight priorities for our grain farming community,” Hodson says.

“Many face-to-face meetings take place with MPs, senators and their staff, who are important contacts that allow for further dialogue on important policy objectives. As a producer representative, we are there to try and relate what effect policies may have on the producers we represent.”

Such meetings and events remain crucial for maintaining direct engagement with policymakers, ensuring the perspectives and needs of grain farmers are heard and make an impact. The positive feedback from our stakeholders in Ottawa stresses the importance of our continued advocacy and presence on Parliament Hill.

“Maintaining a steady presence in Ottawa is key and will ensure that when new policy or ag-related issues arise, decision-makers will have a direct connection with the producers they are impacting,” Parsonage says.

While Canadian agriculture advocacy efforts gain incredible strength from events like Grains Week, it’s important to note that its success was largely due to the dedicated grain farmers who journeyed to Ottawa. We deeply appreciate their participation, which was essential for the impactful meetings held, underscoring the crucial role they play in shaping our agricultural policies.

Let’s maintain this momentum for Grains Week 2025 and ensure our community remains at the forefront of agricultural innovation and policy development!

In November 2023, Cereals Canada released the 2023 New Wheat Crop Report and shortly after led four trade and technical missions to 17 countries to showcase the quality of Canadian wheat to customers and buyers.

The annual trade and technical missions visit key global markets for Canadian wheat to share reports on the quality and functionality of the year’s wheat crop and include information on market supply and demand. Experts from the value chain – such as commissioners from the Canadian Grain Commission, exporters and farmers – participate in these missions.

As part of the seminars during these missions, farmer participants were asked to present on key farming practices and highlight the practices they follow to grow wheat while minimizing environmental impacts.

“Each market wants to understand more about Canadian farming practices,” says Dean Dias, CEO at Cereals Canada. “Having farmer representatives speak on behalf of Canadian growers about their farming practices is critical to informing customers about sustainability.”

Grain farmer and MCA crop committee delegate Korey Peters was a farmer representative on the Asia trade and technical mission, visiting customers in Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and China from Nov. 24 to Dec. 9.

“The experience was awesome and very eye opening,” says Peters. In each seminar, Peters used photos and videos to talk about the crop types he grows on his family farm and shared information about how the 2023 growing season went.

Consumers play an important role in agriculture, and finding new ways to reach this audience is important.

With that goal in mind, the first ever “Wheat Retreat” brought about 30 influencers in the food and nutrition world together to explore all things wheat – nutrition, functionality and sustainability. 

The Wheat Retreat was hosted by the Canadian Wheat Nutrition Initiative, aka What About Wheat?, at Cereals Canada’s world-class facilities in Winnipeg on April 27-30, 2023.

Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) supports market development initiatives that provide value to our farmer members, so we sent Mallorie Lewarne, our former agronomy extension specialist – cereal crops, to add some perspective on farming in Manitoba.

The retreat included a tour of Cereals Canada’s technical facilities, a pasta sensory session, a hands-on sourdough workshop, a bannock making session and discussions about wheat farming.

As a member of the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC), Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) participated in National Grain Week March 27-29 in Ottawa, which included nearly 20 meetings and roundtable discussions with MPs and senators.

Attendees included Agriculture Marie-Claude Bibeau, MP Brian May, MP Marie LaLonde, MP Blaine Calkins, MP Chandra Arya, Minister of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay, MP Ted Falk, Senator Paula Simons, MP Yves Parton, MP Alistair MacGregor and MP John Barlow.

Sally Parsonage, a delegate on MCA’s sunflower crop committee, and Jonothan Hodson, MCA vice-chair and corn committee delegate, represented MCA at this year’s event. Hodson was a returning participant, while Parsonage was attending for the first time.

During the opening reception, MP Francis Drouin, parliamentary secretary to the minister of agriculture, addressed attendees. The next day participants attended an overview of key highlights from the 2023 budget and witnessed the historic passage of Bill C-234, an Act to Amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.

“Before the last election in 2021, I was fortunate enough to be a presenter to the Standing Committee on Agriculture on Bill C-206, which was trying to accomplish the same changes as C-234,” Hodson says. “That bill was lost when the election was called. It was personally rewarding to be in Ottawa when C-234 passed this time around.”

Both Parsonage and Hodson spent much of their time in Ottawa talking about current issues facing farmers and supporting GGC’s preliminary snapshot of the Roadmap to 2050 report, which emphasized the significance of trade, transportation and innovation.

“Broadly speaking, most of my conversations with government officials involved various aspects of the roadmap to net-zero emissions by 2050,” Hodson says.

“I talked a lot about the effects of innovation on the farm level, using the past to demonstrate the value of government and farmer investments in various forms of innovation, and looking to the future return on further investments.”

The importance of science-based policy was communicated repeatedly.

“In order to achieve environmental goals, farmers need access to innovative varieties, practices and tools, not mandated targets,” Parsonage says.

“Forcing Canadian grain farmers to adopt practices that are less productive may lower Canadian emissions, but the shortfall in production will be made up by other regions that may have less stringent environmental requirements.”

Parsonage adds Grain Week was an important chance for farmers to have direct contact with decision makers from across the country.

“I found they were genuinely interested to learn directly from farmers about the issues we face, but in some cases have had very little opportunity to do so,” she says. “While it’s tempting to be cynical about the political process, we will only limit our industry if we don’t make these opportunities happen for ourselves.”

Experiencing firsthand the disconnect many people involved in the political process have from agriculture was a concern for Parsonage. But on a positive note, she says, most people she spoke with were curious and open to learning more.

“Explaining the on-farm cost and benefits of adopting cutting edge equipment – like retrofitting a sprayer with sensors to spot spray weeds, for example – helped bring some perspective to our conversations.”

This year was a reminder for Hodson that sometimes when these decisions are made a long way from the farm, how they will impact the farm is not taken into consideration.

“Sally’s focus on sunflowers, a smaller acreage crop, was well received. She was able to relate real world consequences (of policy decisions) on a crop that is not widely known in all ag circles in Canada, but is an important option in Manitoba,” he says.”

“That was a reminder for me how important it is for farmers to explain how these decisions and consequences can affect their operation.”

At the end of the day, both Parsonage and Hodson saw National Grain Week as a valuable opportunity to share their lived experience and send an important message on behalf of the Canadian agriculture industry.

“As farmers, we have to make sure we are speaking up for ourselves to the people who are responsible for making the decisions that are going to affect our next five, 10, 50 years,” Parsonage says. “Talking to each other only goes so far, we have to be proactive to get our message out to the public instead of waiting to react.”

Hodson adds that “as farmers in Canada, we need to remember, we produce grain on some of the most sustainable farms in the world and we have never been afraid of change. Never be afraid to tell your story and to be proud of your accomplishments.”