By Jim Timlick
Canola is often referred to as a made-in-Manitoba success story. Co-created by University of Manitoba researcher Baldur Stefansson, canola became commercially available to producers in 1978. Since then, it has grown to become the biggest cash crop not only in Manitoba but the entire country based on farm cash receipts.
A recent analysis conducted by GlobalData Plc on behalf of the Canola Council of Canada showed Canadian-grown canola generates $43.7 billion in economic activity in this country each year, including 206,000 jobs and $16.3 billion in wages. Here in Manitoba, canola contributes $6.7 billion and more than 35,000 jobs to the provincial economy on an annual basis.
Despite its overwhelming success, canola remains under the radar among many folks outside the agricultural community.
“It is really under-known and under-appreciated in terms of the value that it has and the fact that it was made right here in Manitoba,” says Delaney Ross Burtnack, executive director of the Manitoba Canola Growers Association (MCGA).
“I don’t know that most people realize it’s one of the most affordable oils and one of the most versatile oils. It’s just taken for granted. Your french fries at most restaurants will have been cooked in it. Whatever kind of pre-made meal you had probably had canola in it. Your hand lotion may have some canola oil in it. You may have driven your vehicle to pick up groceries using a renewable fuel that has canola in it. It’s such a foundational product.”
The name “canola” is a contraction of two words: “Can” as in Canada and “ola,” which means oil in Latin.
Canola seed is harvested and crushed into two separate parts — oil and meal.
Canola oil is the product consumers are most familiar with. It’s most commonly used for cooking oil but is also a key ingredient in products such as margarine and bread as well as biodiesel fuel, printing inks and even de-icer for airplanes.
Canola meal, essentially the leftover part of the seed after it is crushed for oil, is used in a wide range of other products including as a protein supplement for dairy cows to increase milk production, as well as in snack bars and pet food.
“It’s kind of amazing,” Ross Burtnack says. “We keep discovering new ways that canola has more and more benefits.”
While the story of canola has been largely positive, there are concerns about its immediate future and the people who grow it.
In March, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on $2.6-billion worth of agriculture and food products including a 100 per cent tariff on canola oil. That could have a huge impact on canola production here and in the rest of Canada, since China is the second largest importer of Canadian canola oil in the world.
The ongoing trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. are further complicating the situation. The U.S. president continues to shift course on tariff policy — announcing new measures, reversing them, introducing reciprocal tariffs and then pausing implementation — creating uncertainty for trading partners and businesses alike. Premier Wab Kinew said at the Royal Winter Fair exhibition in Brandon in the early spring that it’s not clear what happens next with this country’s largest trading partner.
“Based on what we’ve seen so far, who’s to say he’s not going to change his mind an hour later or a day later or a month later,” Kinew said during a scrum with reporters.
That uncertainty is concerning for producers like Warren Ellis, who operates a small family-owned farm near the town of Wawanesa and has grown canola since its introduction.
Ellis says the threat tariffs pose to producers is two-fold. The risk of Chinese and U.S. tariffs has caused canola prices to drop dramatically, forcing producers to decide whether to hold on to the product they have in storage until prices rebound or sell it now at a deep discount. This spring, many farmers faced the critical decision of whether to plant canola or pivot to another crop that may pose less risk to their bottom line.
“It’s just the uncertainty. You just don’t know if (tariffs) are going to be there. If the tariffs are going to be there, then we might not be able to move this stuff,” Ellis says.
“For farmers, it really cramps our style. (Canola) is one of the major crop receipts and that’s where we get a lot of our cash flow. Tariffs create instability and unpredictability, and that’s almost as bad as anything else for us; it means reduced marketing options and cash flow.”
One of Ellis’s concerns is that if the threat of tariffs causes some farmers to temporarily hit pause on canola, that could lead to a shortage of canola for export if and when those tariffs are lifted — prompting some countries to look elsewhere for their supply.
“That could be almost as bad as tariffs because if the market’s demanding and you don’t fill that market, then the market goes someplace else,” he adds.
Ross Burtnack concedes there isn’t much canola producers can do to protect themselves against the threat of Chinese and U.S. tariffs. She says that’s why organizations like the MCGA and the Canola Council of Canada have undertaken lobbying efforts in the U.S. to help decision-makers in that country understand how tariffs will harm people in both countries and encourage them to begin trade negotiations.
If tariffs remain in place over the long term, Ross Burtnack hopes the federal and provincial governments in this country will provide some form of financial compensation that matches what farmers have lost due to such levies. The last thing farmers need is another loan, she adds.
“This isn’t about just having a cheque,” she says. “It’s about understanding the very complex damage that has been done to farmers and … making sure they are compensated for those losses so they can pay their bills and feed their families.
This isn’t some nameless, faceless company. It’s 6,500 farm families in Manitoba that are going to struggle because of politics.” Ross Burtnack stresses it’s important the agricultural and business communities stand together to fight the threat of tariffs.
“It’s not just agriculture that’s affected by this. It’s all of Manitoba’s economy and all of Canada’s. We’re too small not to work together.” ■
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