Azerbaijan is the latest country to open its border to Canadian beef.

The federal government says dairy genetics are expected to make up the bulk of sales.

"The Canadian Livestock Genetics Association has expressed a keen interest in Azerbaijan's rapidly growing agricultural market," says Rick McRonald, executive director of the CLGA.

He says this will be a totally new market for the Canadian genetics industry, and the association expects the first potential Azeri live cattle buyers will be in Canada next month.

"This could result in initial sales of 2,000 dairy heifers," McRonald says.
 
Market access for cattle was also recently announced for Peru and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Serbia that will help pave the way for increased business and co-operation on animal genetics.

Canadian agri-food exports to Azerbaijan averaged more than $2.1 million per year from 2009 to 2011. Pork is Canada's primary export to Azerbaijan, with an average annual export value of $1.7 million. Other Canadian exports include beef, poultry and pulses.

Until today, Canada has never before had market access for cattle to Azerbaijan. This new access enables Canadian farmers to capitalize on the significant growth occurring in Azerbaijan's agricultural sector and strengthen their foothold in the Caucasus region, states the federal government.

FCC Senior Economist J.P. Gervais discusses factors that impact the value of the Canadian dollar and the effects these fluctuations can have on the Canadian economy.

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The Canadian Bison Association is hoping a significant increase in prices will attract new producers to the business.

The national bison population peaked at 210,000 head in 2007, but has declined over the past four years to approximately 170,000.

Bison producers were only receiving an average of $2 a pound for their meat four years ago. The average price has now doubled.

"What will stimulate rebuilding and growth is sustainable profitability in the industry," says Terry Kremeniuk, the executive director of the Canadian Bison Association. "At present prices, it seems to be there."

Over 95 per cent of the Canadian bison herd is located in the four western provinces. Alberta has roughly half of the total, followed by Saskatchewan with just under 30 per cent.

The average price range is $1,800 to $2,500 for a bred bison heifer.

"Demand appears to be relatively steady. What we have seen is fewer heifers going to slaughter, so that means folks are retaining some heifers and they are also finding opportunities to market heifers into breeding herds."

The Canadian Bison Association has set a goal of providing better data to increase production.

"We want to have good information on the financial performance and productivity of bison cow-calf, backgrounding and feeder operations. With better information, producers can go to their financial institutions and put together the type of business plan that will attract capital," Kremeniuk says.

The United States is an important market with 17,500 head going south of the border for feeding or processing last year. Talks are continuing on developing a harmonization of regulations between the two countries. This would minimize the cost of exporting animals to United States.

Another trade issue involves the European Union. It currently has a 20 per cent tariff on bison meat going to countries such as France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. That combined with the devaluation of the euro has had an impact on increasing the price of bison going to the EU consumer. It's hoped that a free trade agreement being negotiated between Canada and the EU will help.

Despite record flooding and a devastating hurricane, Quebec producers sustained relatively little crop damage in 2011, according to the latest figures from the Financière agricole du Québec.

In its annual results released in late February, the agency reported that it paid out $33.6 million in indemnities to 4,190 producers in 2011.

That represents roughly one-third of the 13,042 farm enterprises in the province that are covered under the province’s crop indemnity insurance program.

Most of those losses were suffered by vegetable, corn and commercial crop growers. Those producers received about $10 million in indemnities for harvests worth an estimated $1.1 billion grown on three million acres of farmland.

Despite record flooding along the Richelieu River Valley last spring, the high winds caused by Hurricane Irene in August and intense mid-summer heat coupled with a drought in some areas of Quebec, the payouts in 2011 were $7 million less than in 2010 and one of the lowest in the past decade.

"The damages in 2011 were not really exceptional," says Benoit Legault, executive director of the Fédération des producteurs de cultures commerciales du Québec, which represents grain growers in the province. "We’re talking about $10 million on insured crops worth $500 million."

According to Legault, the average payout to growers of insured crops like corn, soy beans and wheat has been between $18 million and $20 million over the past 10 years, with the $3 million paid in 2010 being the lowest amount.

He adds that flooding along the Richelieu affected only about 4,000 of the roughly four million acres of arable land across Quebec used to grow grains and hay.

"Irene caused a drop in the harvest in some regions," Legault says. "However, on average, the size and quality of harvests were close to the average of recent years."

According to the agency's report, vegetable growers were hit hard by abundant rain early in the growing season.

All sectors were helped by cool and dry weather during the latter part of the growing season and the lack of frost during harvest.

A local source of organic milk is gearing up for launch in Nova Scotia.

East Coast Organic Milk Co-operative will a modest offering to start -- whole milk, as well as one and two per cent.

But "as demand grows, we want to bring in value-added products such as yogurt and cheeses. We'll probably start looking at a blend and a cream too," says co-op spokesperson Heather MacKenzie.

Frazer Hunter's farm produces 1,250 litres of milk per day and he's one of four farmers participating in the co-op. His Knoydart Farm is the only one currently certified organic, with the others in transition.

It's taken years to get the milk to market under the East Coast Organic brand name mostly because of regulatory complexity, Hunter says.

"Supply management is a tremendous marketing system but the regulations around it are sometimes not fluid enough to allow you to introduce a new product to the marketplace," he says.

Co-op members will be selling their milk to the Dairy Farmers of Nova Scotia -- the only body that can purchase raw milk in the province. It will then be trucked to a processor whose facility must meet organic standards. After that, the co-op will be buying its own milk back from the processor.

Hunter, who also produces organic cheese, is confident that all the regulatory stickhandling will be worth it.

"There's definitely a market there. It's not a big market -- maybe two per cent of the provincial market in milk -– but there's tremendous interest in the product. People keep ringing up and asking when it will be available. When you put local and organic together," he adds, "it gives you some traction in the marketplace."

Currently, Nova Scotians can only buy organic milk produced in Ontario and Quebec.

Hunter expects the milk to bring a 15 to 20 per cent premium.

"The great thing is that we have a product with a margin. It's not just a commodity," he says.

The next step, Hunter says, is to do a test-run of a few truckloads of milk. The processor is located in Yarmouth, several hundred kilometres from the co-op's member farms.

"We want to send two truckloads to try it first, without marketing the product, just to see how well it holds up. We want to do some taste tests," he says.

Alberta Beef Producers is warning of the potential this spring for the spread of trichomoniasis in cow herds from the use of non-virgin bulls.

Bulls are carriers of the disease but do not exhibit any signs of infection. Since there is no treatment, there is no way to confirm the herd is infection-free without testing.

The venereal disease is caused by a protozoan organism called tritrichomonas foetus which is characterized by infertility, early embryonic death and occasional abortions.

The cow may become pregnant and progress for 60 to 120 days, after which the fetus dies and is reabsorbed. This means it's difficult to diagnose until an increase in open or late cows is detected.

Bull testing requires the collection of a preputial fluid sample from the bull’s sheath, which is subject to a culture test. Positive animals should be culled, while it's recommended that any bulls testing negative should be retested until there have been three negative tests.

Infected herds should have all positive cows and bulls culled and all new non-virgin bulls should be tested before they are released into the herd. It is recommended that all open cows and heifers be culled.

Alberta Beef Producers also suggestes that only bulls three years old or younger be used or that bulls be kept up to five years of age with mandatory annual testing. Bulls older than four are more likely to become carriers since they can harbour the organism in penile crypts.

If your herd is infection free, be sure to follow a strict testing regime for new non-virgin bulls, maintain good fences and do not buy open replacement cows.

According to ABP, a 2008 study done by Colorado State University showed the cost of testing for trichomoniasis in conjunction with a breeding soundness exam would cost about $4.43 per cow. This was based on a herd of 100 head with a one to 20 bull to cow ratio and located 120 kilometres from a veterinary clinic.

Although the figures are somewhat dated and will differ between herds depending on the calculation variables, the cost of testing remains small compared to the potential losses considering recent calf prices, states the association.

As he enters his second year at the helm of Atlantic Beef Products, Mike Nabuurs remains more convinced than ever the operation can eventually become a profitable enterprise.

The Atlantic area's only federally inspected beef plant is making some inroad into markets both within the region and across the country. The company president admits it has been an uphill battle and "sometimes it is a case of one step forward and two steps back -- it is going to take some time."

However, time may be one thing the plant may soon find in short supply.

The enterprise has faced a continuous series of financial challenges since it opened in 2005 in the community of Albany, P.E.I. Even at full capacity of 500 animals per week, the operation is small scale compared to its counterparts in the west.

Currently, the operation is running at approximately half capacity, and last year experienced losses of close to $3 million. The majority of the animals going through the plant come from P.E.I. and provincial taxpayers have been picking up the tab for much of the losses.

The red ink was twice what the provincial government had budgeted, and a review is underway into what level of support, if any, the province will provide for the fiscal year that begins April 1. The verdict will be announced when the budget is tabled in mid-April.

In the meantime, Nabuurs says it will be business as usual. The plant has recently unveiled a new line of what it's marketing as traditional beef.

"We have gotten some extremely positive feedback," Nabuurs says. "Producers who follow the protocol receive an extra $25 per animal -- we realize that is not a huge premium but if the market grows we hope to be in a position to increase that."

They are also looking at producing a line of pet food.

Part of the reason for the higher than expected losses was an increase in market prices, meaning the plant paid more for its raw product.

The higher prices are something Peter Verleun is certainly not going to apologize for. The president of the P.E.I. Cattle Producers says Island producers have faced a number of financial challenges of their own over the last five years.

"We need that higher return but at the same time we have a vested interest in making sure the plant remains viable," he says.

The plant president couldn't agree more, adding "this can't be an either/or proposition -- obviously we both need to survive and thrive for the industry to have a viable future."

John Jamieson, the executive director of the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture, maintains the plant makes good economic sense despite the red ink.

"With over 500 full- and part-time beef farmers and 55 full-time employees, the plant generates over $100 million in total economic output to the Island's economy," he says.

Research conducted at the University of Guelph and elsewhere has shown cover crops -- sometimes called "green manure" -- help replenish the soil by reducing erosion, sequestering nitrogen and improving pest management.

Now, to help vegetable growers reap the benefits of such crops, the federal government is dedicating more than $230,000 to help producers study the optimal soil conditions for growing cover crops, as part of a healthy crop rotation.

This two-year research program will be conducted by the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers. It will assess how cover crops such as annual rye, wheat, oats and oilseed radishes are affected by residual herbicides that have been applied to previously rotated crops such as soybeans or corn.

"As growers continue to make their farms environmentally sustainable, this project will help determine the compatibility of potential cover crops within vegetable production systems," says growers' association chair Phil Richards, a processing tomato grower from Dresden, Ont.

Federal Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson, Member of Parliament for Niagara Falls, announced the support from his home riding. He says vegetable growers play an important role in driving jobs and economic growth in his region, too.

"This investment will help vegetable producers implement economically and environmentally sustainable weed-management practices, leading to increased production and a stronger bottom line," he says.

The processing vegetable growers' organization represents about 600 farmers across Ontario. It negotiates prices, terms and conditions of sale for growers of tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, green peas, green and wax beans, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, peppers, pumpkin, squash and lima beans.

In November, the University of Guelph's Ridgetown campus, the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs came together for a cover crop open house near Chatham and Ridgetown. There, growers saw the performance of fields where cover crops were planted after tomatoes, snap beans, sweet corn and seed corn.

A report on Canada's specialty food sector concludes that the sector needs focus to identify its potential. With that focus, the country's agri-food industry is set for rapid growth in the coming years.

The Value Chain Management Centre of the George Morris Centre released the report, commissioned by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

The centre states that lack of understanding about the specialty food sector's potential means industry and government aren't motivated to take strategic approaches to increase competitiveness.

During their research, the researchers focused on red meat produced and marketed according to religious law, grain produced, processed and marketed as gluten-free and seafood from the east and west coasts of Canada.

"The research results illustrate that the commercial agri-food industry largely defines whether a food is a specialty by the consumers who purchase a particular product," states the report. "Most specialty foods are often considered to be leading-edge innovations within already established categories."

The report makes several recommendations on how industry and government can help the sector:

- Assess the current regulatory system for specialty food.

- Match Canada's Food Safety Enhancement Program with the Global Food Safety Initiative to eliminate barriers and additional costs for potential export markets.

- Create an information portal to house existing market intelligence on specialty foods.

- Help producers and processors develop management skills. The need for management training for producers appeared to be "particularly acute" in the lamb and goat sectors, states the report.

- Create a national association focused on enabling producers and processors to take advantage of market opportunities.

Higher into spring and lower into summer -- that’s the market thinking with springtime now on the horizon.

Urea prices may have already bottomed with increased talk that nitrogen prices that might start appreciating into the spring seeding season.

The United States Gulf urea prices have jumped nearly US$100 per short ton over the past two weeks, which we believe is an effort by importers to get more product into North America at the last minute to accommodate anticipated demand.

Indications are now of US$500 per short ton in the gulf, a rather stunning jump in only two weeks. Arbitrage math back to the Canadian Prairies is US$500 x 1.1 (convert from short ton to metric tonne) at American dollar parity is C$550 per tonne. Traditional freight-movement to Manitoba, for example, is around $75 a tonne, though winter may require an extra $10 a tonne cost -- but let’s still call it $625 a tonne. Retailers need to make margin, maybe five to 10 per cent.

The point is replacement retail urea in Prairies likely in the area of C$650 or more per tonne. Expect a bump in local prices as we go into what is the heaviest use period of the year.

Prairie price volatility is somewhat insulated from the world market due to fact that the Canadian Prairies are a net exporter, but no wholesaler-retailer will pass-up an opportunity to change price. In the medium term, urea price tends to arbitrage to destination consumptive point in the U.S. -- one that is indifferent if product is imported from the U.S. Gulf or from Canada.

Urea prices in summer, well after seeding, are still expected soften. That’s a traditional seasonal trend for the fertilizer market. There’s also a good possibility that 2013 prices could be even lower than they are now as the market should draw linkage to increasing offshore capacity., the latter driven by desire to capture margin by essentially solidifying and converting cheap natural gas to urea. 

When you have high prices, you tend to bring more production capacity on, something we should see in the months ahead.

But before that occurs, it would seem fertilizer prices will move to a peak this coming spring.

North American manufacturers and retailers have been reluctant to build fertilizer inventory this winter. Should spring conditions enable a timely and aggressive start to the seeding season throughout the continent, situations could develop where suppliers and growers may not be able to secure all they want of a specific product at the right time. There is plenty of supply availability overall, but there could be some logistical spot outages if the system starts up very quickly.

And given the recent leap higher in U.S. Gulf urea rates, the optimal time to buy fertilizer for 2012 spring seeding has likely passed.

Mike Jubinville of Pro Farmer Canada offers information on commodity markets and marketing strategies. Call 204-654-4290 or visit www.pfcanada.com to find out more about his services.