REGINA — Three major Prairie farmer groups are urging the federal government to do more to help resolve a trade issue with China over Canadian canola exports.
China has said it will block canola seed imports as of Nov. 15 unless there is a certificate proving that the canola is free of the blackleg fungus.
Greg Marshall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, says canola has been “the Cinderella crop,” bolstering farm incomes for the past few years.
But prices dropped with the China announcement.
And the Prairie farm groups said at a meeting Tuesday that’s taking money out of producers’ pockets.
Ian Wishart, president of the Manitoba-based Keystone Agricultural Producers, says there needs to be high level government involvement in the talks as soon as possible.
Saskatchewan alone had $5 billion in canola sales last year and China was the biggest importer.