sugar is still sugar

Pepsi is launching limited-edition "throwback" brands of Pepsi and Mountain Dew in which they'll replace High Fructose Corn Syrup with old fashioned sugar.

Here's an article from the Chicago Tribune about the new brands, explaining why sugar is sugar, regardless of its source.

Soft drink manufacturers eliminating corn syrup

Activists who have taken aim at high fructose corn syrup appear to be winning.

It's being reported that this week some soft drink manufacturers have announced they'll be replacing the HFCS in its soft drinks with plain old fashioned sugar.

Pepsi, Snapple and Mountain Dew appear to have caved to consumer pressure that HFCS is making them fat. That's in spite of the US-based Corn Refiners' Association's Sweet Surprise ad campaign.

See the response from the Corn Refiners' Association here.

Clean energy R&D good news for Canada

The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) says President Obama's recent visit to Canada means great things for Canada's green energy industry. The visit led to the announcement of the "U.S.-Canada Clean Energy Dialogue." See the full news release here.

Hold your applause. AgriFlex is an AgriBust

After more than one year of lobbying for AgriFlex, the dog and pony show put on by the Harper government in the lead-up to the Federal budget announced something that sounded almost too good to be true: Canadian farmers could expect to see $500 million for a “regional flexibility fund.” Minister Gerry Ritz himself announced the program was similar in nature to the AgriFlex program members of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) had been lobbying for.

When the big day finally came, the details became clear: The $500 million was actually only $190 million of new money to become available within two years. Depending on how that money is distributed, that means approximately $19 million per year for all of Ontario agriculture.

Most disturbing is a clause in the details that explains funds are to be used for non business risk management measures. So, farmers across the country who have been lobbying with CFA are left out in the cold by the federal conservatives once again. In Ontario, farmers have been eyeing potential AgriFlex dollars to help fund provincial business risk management programs such as the Risk Management Program (RMP) for grains and oilseeds, or other business risk management programs proposed for other sectors.

The provincial government has shown leadership in implementing a three-year RMP pilot that’s set to end after this year, but the federal government has been silent on providing any financial support. The key to remember with RMP is that it’s an insurance program that farmers themselves pay a premium on, in an effort to secure protection from volatile market conditions.

Our colleagues in Quebec are also disappointed, as attaching the minimal AgriFlex dollars to non-business risk management programming is a slap in the face for ASRA, a program that also requires producers to pay premiums, and has worked well for decades.

The lobby for AgriFlex began with the goal of adjusting the federal government’s “one size fits all” approach to agricultural programming. A grain farmer in Ontario does not have the same challenges as a beef farmer in Alberta. AgriFlex was designed by farmers as a way to address region- and sector-specific challenges that farm families across the country are up against. By removing the “business risk management” option for using AgriFlex dollars, the federal government isolates and ignores the sectors and regions in Canada most in need of that funding.

So what’s next? Farm families will need to step up our visibility with the Harper government and let them know that what they’ve put on the table is not an acceptable option for our industry. Next time you see a Conservative MP claiming to have met or “exceeded” the needs of farm families, we encourage you to correct the misunderstanding. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, and meet with your Member of Parliament to ensure the Conservatives don’t get a win out of their recent maneuver.

We asked for AgriFlex and we got it in name only. But let’s be clear that the AgriFlex we proposed was intended for programs that included business risk management. We’re not looking for a bailout – just fairness. This is not a win for rural Canada, and it cannot be a win for the federal government, no matter how much they try to take it.

Relief for farmers with un-harvested corn acres

Ontario farmers with unharvested corn still in the field may qualify for an emergency advance payment to a maximum of $ 25,000.

The Emergency Advance- co-ordinated by ACC Farmers' Financial- is intended to help farmers who still have unharvested acres in the field.

Poor weather conditions in the tail end of the 2008 growing season made it impossible for some farmers to complete harvest of their 2008 corn crop.

Application forms for the Emergency Advance are now available from ACC Farmers' Financial at http://www.accfarmersfinancial.ca/ or by phoning 1-888-278-8807.

Applications must be postmarked by Feb 28, 2009. Payments will be issued by March 31, 2009.

Farmers express concern about pesticide regulations

Ontario farmers are speaking out about their concerns over proposed pesticide regulations from the McGuinty government. Agriculture is exempt from the proposed regulations for now, but farmers believe it's a slippery slope. Read the article in the Guelph Mercury here.