Keep the faith but troubling times  
 
Two issues come to mind as I write this column. The first had farmers in Western Canada riled up. Here is the headline of a release as to why ‘Trudeau moves forward with fertilizer reduction policy.’
A Saskatchewan government release said the Alberta and Saskatchewan agriculture ministers have expressed “profound disappointment” in Trudeau’s decision to attempt to reduce nitrogen emissions from fertilizer. 
“We’re concerned with this arbitrary goal,” said Saskatchewan’s David Marit.  
“The Trudeau government has moved on from their attack on the oil and gas industry and set sights on Saskatchewan farmers.” Well of course, that means all farmers in Canada at least as it stands now.  
“This has been the most expensive crop anyone has put in, following a challenging year on the prairies,” said Alberta ag minister Nate Horner. “The world is looking for Canada to increase production and be a solution to global food shortages. The Federal government needs to display that they understand this. They owe it to our producers.” 
A federal government release said nitrous oxide emissions, particularly those associated with synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use have also grown significantly. That is why the Government of Canada has set the national fertilizer emissions reduction target, which is part of the commitment to reduce total GHG emissions in Canada by 40-45 per cent by 2030. 
On a WhatsApp Canadian Agriculture group farmers quickly took to the keyboard and expressed their concern about what it means for farmers to reduce fertilizer emissions by 30 per cent.  
Eric McLean Oak River, MB said it’s starting to feel more and more like a James Bond movie plot.  
“The world governments have been convinced of a plan from a handful of powerful people that if they do these things, the world will be ok. The plot appears to limit food production to only rich countries and let third-world nations starve and fight to survive. They’re ok with this because we need to reduce the human population in half to save the planet.”  
McLean said continued constraints in agronomy and policy would financially destabilize farms until they have to sell. 
The second issue concerns the agreement in the Black Sea area regarding shipping grain.  
My friend and crop reporting and agronomy consultant Mike Lee gives several weekly updates to his subscribing clients.   
Lee writes that signing the Istanbul agreement on Friday, July 22 raised hopes that grain might start to move out of Black Sea ports, only to be immediately tested when Russia attacked the port of Odesa on Saturday morning. 
Russia said they targeted a Ukrainian military vessel and added the attack did not violate the agreement not to attack merchant and other civilian vessels and port facilities engaged in grain transportation. 
“While they might be following the letter of the law, if not the spirit, that’s a powerful way to test an agreement that’s as weak as a snowflake.” 
Here are some of his thoughts and the latest understanding of the situation. 
Ukrainian vessels will guide cargo ships through mined waters. The sea will not be cleared of mines; corridors will be created with Ukrainian vessels guiding commercial vessels along safe paths through the mined areas. 
Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure has said the arrival and departure of ships to the specified seaports would move out by forming a caravan accompanied by a lead ship. 
“My background is in farming, so I’m not qualified to comment on how safe this is, but it appears to be a strategy with a high risk of something going wrong.” 
Mike has much more to say, but that is for another day.  
While the feds want to cut fertilizer use by about one-third, the Russians attack only hours after signing an agreement to get the grain moving.  
From where I sit and many readers, much of the 2022 Manitoba crop looks fantastic. Here’s hoping for continued growth and crop development. Keep smiling! •