We knew the results of the recent US election would have a huge effect on Canada, but not like this.
Before I go further, I want you to know that I do not have a doctorate, masters, or even a bachelor’s degree in economics, science, health, or even agriculture. I’m just an old, retired farmer. All the information that I divulge here are my own opinions from a lifetime of observing many changes in agriculture and some information that was passed down to me by those who came before.
One big promise that the leader of the Republican Party made very clear was that if he was elected, a huge tariff would be charged on all imported cars manufactured in China. About a week before the election, it was written in a US daily farm report that China was the United States’ largest grain buyer (corn and soybeans). Ever since GMO corn and soybean became the most popular way of producing corn and soy in North America, almost all corn and soy has been GMO because GMO crops are easier and cheaper to spray.
There are now more than 20 countries in the world that do not grow or buy GMO grain. South America now grows more corn and soy than all the countries in North and Central America combined. Some large grain-growing countries in South America grow two lines of grain. The GMO grain and the non-GMO grains are kept separate so both markets can be supplied. Although China does import GMO grain, it also can and does import non-GMO grain from Russia, India, and other close-by nations like New Zealand or even Europe. Several years ago, the USA’s most popular bourbon was no longer exported to Ireland because the distiller could no longer obtain non-GMO corn to make the mash, and Irish consumers had long before stopped purchasing GMO products.
Chemical weed control, which GMO crops depend on to be profitable, didn’t exist until after the war-time development of chemicals: nerve gas in WWI, gas for the gas chambers of Auschwitz in WWII, and agent orange used as a defoliant in Korea and Vietnam. All of these chemicals were modified and used as agricultural sprays when the wars were over.
Before chemical weed control, grandpa and dad used timed cultivation and an old three-section leaver harrow to reduce broadleaf weeds and grass in crops. Inter-row cultivation and finger weeders were also used after crops came up. Cropping and weed control has gone through many drastic changes in the past seventy-five years. More changes will come as consumers become more educated about some of the side effects that some chemicals have on animals, birds, and humans, and become more demanding of how farmers treat the land. Too many chemicals were released before adequate testing was completed to assure safety for all our needed bacteria, fish, birds, animals, and humans.
Recently, much research has been started on the safety and health of the bacteria that make up our own gut biome which not only helps digest our food, but helps keep our digestive system healthy. A healthy gut biome also sends a signal to our brain to help keep us happy and positive.
Scientists and farmers are beginning to realize the importance of life in the soil, which can be as many as a billion microscopic animals in one teaspoon on topsoil. They can turn compost and even the minerals in the soil into plant food that farmers don’t have to buy. This research could lead to reduced food costs for consumers. For many years, there has been a small market for soybeans for the human market in Asia (Japan), but we are facing a growth in the non-GMO grains market in the very near future.
Researchers at Ag Canada had spent years developing the world’s best milling wheat, and farmers together with Ag Canada had developed the Canadian Wheat Board to find the very best market for each class of wheat and barley. Even though western grain farmers had voted to keep the wheat board, which always kept grain moving to ports before it was needed to keep buyers happy with fast delivery, a previous government abolished the wheat board and gave control to friendly grain merchants who mixed the grain up so as to just make grade and make more money. Now, Canadian wheat is no longer the most desired wheat in the world. Many wheat producers also changed from swathing the wheat to drying it before combining, then to spraying wheat fields with a desiccant which killed the plant so it dried standing up before combining the crop direct without swathing. This led to a very clean dry sample. The problem is that some of this desiccant remains on the grain and can cause health problems when consumed. This also makes our Canadian wheat not as desirable as it once was.
Our farmers are in a constant struggle to produce the best, safest, least expensive crops that consumers want, but there are constantly changing demands by our consumers, and the consumers are the farmers best friends.
