Canola Industry Ready to Weather Current Challenges

Canola Industry Ready to Weather Current Challenges

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

John Mayko said that while COVID_19 hasn’t had a major impact on the day to day operations of his farm near Mundare, it has impacted the speed and manner in which farmers deliver products to the marketplace, interaction with input suppliers, and other support services.

He went on to say, “Our operation is fortunate that we have not needed to rely on hired help to this point in time, but farms that do rely on hired help have had to implement protocols to handle operations specific to their farms in order to mitigate the impact of COVID.

As far as the industry is concerned, most operations such as grain handling and canola crushing have continued reasonably well, despite requirements for social distancing, but the industry is concerned about the impact that a potential outbreak in the facilitiesof the grain handling, processing and food manufacturing operations could have in terms of product movement and pricing.”

John Mayko proudly held his grandson William in the cab of his combine during harvest in the Fall of 2019.

In terms of priorities, “The top priority at this point in time is to seed our crop in a timely fashion in order to optimize yield and quality of our end products. A second priority is to market our crops in order to optimize returns to our operations. Challenges include weather and the potential impact that coming down with COVID during seeding would have to our operation.”

Mayko is one of 12 regional directors with the Alberta Canola Producers Commission. “I was elected to the board of directors of Alberta Canola in January 2017, and have been the director for Region 4 (which includes the counties of Strathcona, Lamont, Beaver, Minburn and Two Hills) since then.”

His education and professional experience lend perfectly with the Commission and its mandate. “I was born in Mundare and raised in the area on a mixed farm. I attended the U of Alberta and earned a B.Sc. in Agriculture and a M.Sc in Engineering Agrology. I worked for several years doing ag research at the University and then worked as an agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada for 23 years, while building up the farm and raising a family along with my wife, Pat.”

Exports to China were drastically reduced about 14 months ago after China blocked imports from Canada. Even though those imports have not reopened, Mayko said a portion of Canadian exports (approximately 30% of previous Chinese exports) are continuing to China. Even though prices rebounded somewhat, but remain muted due to the continued blockade and also from the depression in soybean prices (and subsequent oilseed prices) that have occurred as a result of US-China trade disputes.

Despite the many challenges, Mayko and other directors continue to work on, they will continue to support the longterm success of Alberta canola farmers through research, promotional activities, consumer and producer education programs, and policy development.