(WHISTLER, B.C.) – The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) is hailing the events of this week as a productive step forward for Canadian agriculture policy and for industry-federal-provincial relations. Wednesday morning CFA hosted an industry-government roundtable meeting in Whistler, B.C., that brought together farm leaders and agriculture ministers. Following the roundtable the federal, provincial and territorial agriculture minister met and produced a broad framework agreement for moving forward on agriculture policy.

“On behalf of the farm leaders present in B.C. this week I can say we are satisfied with the outcome of the discussions this week,” said Bob Friesen, CFA President. “There was a very open and effective exchange of ideas between industry stakeholders and Canada’s agriculture ministers. I am pleased to see industry input was strongly reflected in the ministers’ ‘Growing Forward’ document.”

In their discussions with the ministers, farm leaders focused on a number of key issues for the next generation of agriculture policy, including federal flexibility to support regional companion programs and ensuring there is continuity and a smooth transition from the old policy framework to the new. Farm leaders stressed the overall objective of the new policy must be to improve farm incomes and restore sustainability to the industry.

The ‘Growing Forward’ document presented by the ministers today proposes a new suite of business risk management programs that follows the proposals CFA has advanced, including an accounts-based program, an income stabilization component, a disaster recovery component, and expanded crop insurance. The ministers’ document also acknowledges the importance of federal flexibility for regional programs. ‘Growing Forward’ addresses the issue of improving Canada’s regulatory framework to make the industry more competitive, and makes a commitment to innovation for industry growth. In the next steps CFA would like to see more emphasis placed on empowering farmers in the marketplace. CFA also stresses the need to commit to adequate funding to ensure all programs are able to function effectively.

“I believe ‘Growing Forward’ represents a solid foundation for building the next generation of agriculture policy in Canada. It has the flexibility to build the kind of programs farmers are looking for,” said Friesen. “I know all CFA members are eager to get working with the federal, provincial and territorial governments as soon as possible to put the meat on the bones.”

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Founded in 1935 to provide Canada's farmers with a single voice in Ottawa, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is the country's largest farmers' organization. Its members include provincial general farm organizations as well as national and inter-provincial commodity organizations from every province. Through its members, CFA represents over 200,000 Canadian farmers and farm families.