FPT Ag Ministers meet in the Yukon

The Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Agriculture Ministers are holding their annual conference in Whitehorse.

Manitoba's Agriculture Minister, Ron Kostyshyn, wants to see a discussion around Trade and Market Access.

Kostyshyn says he's very concerned about Voluntary Country of Origin Labelling, and believes this could seriously affect pork  exports to the United States.
 
Manitoba is the largest pig-producing province in Canada, and is the largest exporter of weanlings into the United States.

Other issues of concern for Kostyshyn include preparing for animal disease outbreaks and not just African Swine Fever, but other diseases like Avian Influenza in other animals ... such as cattle, and Food and Mouth Disease.

Kostshyn would also like to see discussion around a  Grocery Code of Conduct.

Saskatchewan's Agriculture Minister, David Marit, says a key issue for him going into the FPT meetings centers around the Pest Management Regulatory Agency or PMRA evaluation processes ....  like the removal of LAMBDA, something he wants to see brought back.  He notes we want to make sure that before a product is removed there's a suitable replacement that will do the same job and is cost effective.

Marit's also expecting to see discussions around Business Risk Management programs. the carbon tax, and the changes to the Capital Gains Tax and what it means for farmers.

Alberta's Agriculture and Irrigation Minister, RJ Sigurdson, says his goal at the meetings is to share the feedback he gets from producers, agencies, and boards so that our federal counterparts understand that we need to move in the right direction to make sure that our producers are successful and can invest in new agricultural technologies.

He says a key issue in agriculture is the fact that the government needs to reduce the red tape, get out of the way of the good work that farmers and ranchers are doing on a regular basis and just let them do it.

The Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Agriculture Ministers will also participate in a roundtable discussion with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.