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• Your FARM, You FUTURE, Your VOTE!
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• WeatherFarm Stickers
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• 2010 APAS Winter Mid Term
• 2010 CFA Semi-Annual Meeting
• Producers Tour of Texas 2010
• 2009 APAS Summer Mid Term
• 2009 APAS Winter Mid Term
• 2009 CFA SAM (Kelowna)
• CFA SemiAnnual '09 - Day 2
• CFA SemiAnnual '09 - Day 1
• CFA SemiAnnual '09 - Day 3
• 2009 CFA AGM (Ottawa)
• CFA AGM '09 - Day 1
• CFA AGM '09 - Day 2
• CFA AGM '09 - Day 3
• 2009 Feb Board Retreat
• 2008 APAS AGM

Your Daily look at the CFA AGM - as it happens (from Feb 24, 2009)

Written and compiled by the APAS delegates at CFA

Tuesday evening - The first event for APAS at the CFA Annual General Meeting was an Executive Meeting attended by APAS President Greg Marshall on the evening of Monday, February 23.  The Executive dealt with the CFA budget for 2009, CFA structural issues, and CFA elections.

Tuesday, February 24 was the first day of the CFA Annual General Meeting and it was a buzz of activity with meetings of the CFA Committees from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.  The six APAS delegates split up and attended all Committee meetings.  The following provides a very brief summary of the issues discussed by each Committee:

•  Trade:  Canada's Chief Negotiators for Agriculture from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada briefed the Committee on the status and next steps of the WTO and bilateral negotiations.  The Committee discussed market access, COOL legislation in the US, the potential of labeling of food in Canada, and resolutions on trade.
• Food Safety:  The Committee discussed direction and initiatives in Food Safety, heard a speaker from Maple Leaf Foods, and discussed resolutions on food safety.
• Grains and Oilseeds:  This is a new committee of CFA that is co-chaired by APAS President Greg Marshall.  The Committee discussed railway costing issues, received an update from the CWB, and received a status report on a project that has been initiated to evaluate producer payment security options.  The Federal Government has introduced Bill 13 as the review of the Canada Grains Act including bonding.  Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission, Elwin Hermanson, attended the meeting to discuss this and other CGC issues.  Resolutions on grains and oilseeds issues were also reviewed.
• Environment and Science:  The Committee discussed environmental and research issues as well as resolutions submitted in these areas.
• Safety Nets:  The Committee discussed AgriFlex, the status of Business Risk Management programs, the federal budget, and resolutions.
•  Strategic Growth:  The Committee discussed agriculture research needs and priorities, domestic branding initiatives, and resolutions.  Jim Mann of Farmers of North America provided an overview of their Strategic Agriculture Institute (STAG) initiative.

These are substantive issues confronting Canadian agriculture and the discussion was intense.

The evening of February 24 was devoted to a dinner and program honoring Bob Friesen, retired President of CFA.  The event was attended by 175 CFA delegates and guests including the Agriculture critics for the Liberal and New Democratic Parties, government and industry officials.  Following service on the Board of the Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency, Bob served as the President of CFA for the past ten years.  Speaker after speaker paid tribute to the strong leadership and tireless efforts of Bob Friesen on behalf of Canadian farm families.

Following the Friesen event, the APAS delegates met to discuss the election for President that will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 25.  CFA is fortunate in that two very capable candidates are seeking the position - Laurent Pellerin of UPA and Ron Bonnett of OFA.  As both have rich experiences and abilities, it will be a difficult decision for delegates with many likely making their decisions after the speeches tomorrow.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's report on the results.