21 ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025 Industry news Eyes forward with a few glances back LESSONS LEARNED FROM 2024 Ralph Pearce EVERY YEAR AT THIS TIME, THERE’S A COLLECTIVE EFFORT TO LOOK BACK ON THE GROWING SEASON that was and cast a glance toward the days, weeks and months ahead with a mix of cautious optimism, anticipation, and apprehension. WELCOME TO DECEMBER The 2024 growing season in Ontario will be remembered as a contrast of wet weather at the beginning and yield forecasts heading to harvest that were sizeable, perhaps larger than expected just a few months earlier. Yet, as with most years, there were the behindthe-scenes factors that influenced growers’ decisions throughout 2024 and may continue to affect them well into 2025. Ontario Grain Farmer spoke to four individuals, Jennifer Doelman, Crosby Devitt, Don Kabbes, and Neil Hemingway, and asked each for their perspective on what was learned from 2024 and what’s ahead in 2025. All agreed that this past year started with a wet spring, challenging growers in their efforts to get corn and soybeans - and other crops - in the ground and then to navigate a wetter-thannormal mid-season. However, what further confounded operations were ongoing job actions, emerging trade issues, and supply chain disruptions. JOB ACTIONS The effects of strikes across Canada in 2024 weren’t necessarily devastating, but they were enough to hamper most farmers’ operations in one way or another. Cargill went on strike at the end of May and affected beef production in Ontario to the extent that producers had to continue feeding animals ready for market that weren’t shipped. That delayed those buying calves and moving things through that value chain. At roughly the same time Cargill went on strike, Viterra workers did the same, affecting oilseed crush facilities, including one in Quebec, which directly affected Jenn Doelman, a farmer from Douglas in Renfrew County. “They’re our main buyer, and they were on strike until September, so we did not have any way to ship our pre-contracted canola during harvest,” she recalls. A subsequent rail strike meant harvested product couldn’t be loaded, putting a premium on local trucking, which instead was called on to ship canola meal, usually delivered by rail. “Normally, we trade our straw for manure with a local trucker, and this is usually done in that August window so that we get manure on our fields. The manure wasn’t available for transport because the trucks were needed to haul.” Although the rail strike was relatively shortlived, a port strike in Vancouver and a similar action later in the fall in Montreal was one more combined labour action that affected Ontario farmers, particularly the Montreal strike. According to Don Kabbes, general manager of Great Lakes Grain in Chatham, the impacts of these types of events aren’t always well understood. “The challenge with the ports is that a oneday labour disruption adds three to four days of backlog for the system,” he says. “Any disruption can lead to product outages and impacts further along the supply chain. And it appears the job actions are happening more often in our industry.” continued on page 22
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