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What's New?


NFU Region 1 Annual Meeting
August 7, 2010
Pres du Lac, Grand Falls, NB


NFU Warns New Trade Agreement with EU Could Crush Canadian Farmers
While farmers throughout the Maritimes are spending long days cutting hay and harvesting their crops, the Canadian government and the European Union (EU) are negotiating a new "free trade" agreement, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

National Farmers Union (NFU) President, Terry Boehm, warns this agreement will further intensify Canada's farm income crisis. "The CETA would mean many changes, but none more negative than its effect to extinguish farmers' rights to save and re-use seeds," states Boehm.


NFU Report on Land Grabbing:
At a June 7, 2010 news conference, the NFU released a major research report on a corporate and investor buy-up of Canadian farmland. The report entitled Losing Our Grip: How a Corporate Farmland Buy-up, Rising Farm Debt, and Agribusiness Financing of Inputs Threaten Family Farms and Food Sovereignty also details the farm debt crisis, and agribusiness financing of farm input sales.


Proposed Canada-EU Trade Agreement: perhaps the biggest issue on the farm policy horizon. Learn more below.
  • April 21, 2010, NFU news release, Secret Text of Canada-EU Trade Deal Released. pdf Click here (18 KB)
  • April 26, 2010, An analysis of the implications of the Canada-EU agreement for farmers. pdf Click here (12 KB)
  • Draft text of the Canada-EU agreement. pdf Click here (1.4 MB)


The Paul Beingessner Award for Excellence in Writing

Special deals for NFU members at
Canadian Tarpaulin Manufacturers Ltd.
  • Get 10% off on machinery covers, shelter covers, bale stack covers, and more - when you provide your NFU membership number when ordering.
  • Free shipping in Canada on orders over $1,000. Make sure you return to the special NFU link to take advantage of the special pricing when you place your order! Visit the Canadian Tarpaulin Manufacturers website
    www.cantarp.com


    News releases from the National Farmers Union

    Click here to access our webpage with the latest news releases

    NEWSLETTERS

    Union Farmer Quarterly - Fall 2010 edition
    pdf Click here to download (6.9 mb)

    Union Farmer Newsletter - June 2010 edition
    pdf Click here to download the newsletter (452 kb)


    NFU National Conventions

    2010 - 41st Annual NFU National Convention
    • Hilton Garden Inn, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - December 2-4, 2010
    • For reservations call 1-306-244-2311 or e-mail chad.love@hilton.com
    pdf CLICK HERE to view 2010 POSTER (PDF, 96 KB)


    2009 Highlights - 40th Annual NFU National Convention
    Ottawa, Ontario - November 26-28, 2009


    Organic Farming: a pioneer's perspective
    Elmer Laird, a founding member of the National Farmers Union, was inducted into the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2008. He established the first certified organic research farm in Canada, and has been writing about organic food production for over twenty years. The Saskatchewan Organic Directorate (SOD) has compiled Elmer's writings, and the document is now posted on the SOD website.
    Click here to access this valuable resource (PDF format - 7.78 mb).

    NFU in New Brunswick launches new website
    The National Farmers Union in New Brunswick has launched a brand-new, bilingual website.
    Click here to visit the NFU in New Brunswick website

    NFU in Ontario launches new website
    The National Farmers Union in Ontario has launched a redesigned website with many new features, including information on purchasing local food from farmers in your area!
    Click here to visit the NFU in Ontario website

    Take action on the prison farm closures in Canada
    Click here to take action on this issue.

    Are you an Ontario farmer interested in joining the NFU?
    The National Farmers Union is a certified general farm organization under the Ontario Farm Business Registration (FBR) program. If you choose to join the NFU through this program, you must complete the Ontario FBR application form available on the Agricorp website. Remember, the deadline for registering under the FBR program is March 1, 2009.
    Click here to log on to the Agricorp FBR program website

    Are you a New Brunswick farmer interested in joining the NFU?
    The National Farmers Union is a certified general farm organization under the New Brunswick Agricultural Producers Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act. If you choose to join the NFU through this program, you must complete the New Brunswick Registrar of Farms registration form . Under this program, registration is valid from November 1 of each year until October 31 of the following year. For more information, please contact the New Brunswick Registrar of Farms directly at 1-888-323-4440.
    Click here for the New Brunswick Registrar of Farms registration form in English
    Click here for the New Brunswick Registrar of Farms registration form in French

    Are you a Prince Edward Island farmer interested in joining the NFU?
    The National Farmers Union is a certified general farm organization under the PEI Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act. If you would like to join the NFU through this program, please complete the Farm Registration Form 2009 (dowload below). Please remember that the deadline for submitting your completed application form is April 1, 2009.
    Pdf icon Click here to download a PDF version of the PEI Farm Registration Form 2009

    Where's the beef... plan?
    The Canadian Cattlemen's Association has published a response to the NFU cattle report. We invite you to read both the NFU report and the CCA response, and decide for yourself which offers the most penetrating and reliable analysis. In the interests of helping farmers/ranchers make informed decisions, the NFU also challenges the Canadian Cattlemen's Association to provide a link on its website to the NFU cattle report.

    NFU special report on the crisis in the cattle sector:
    The Farm Crisis and the Cattle Sector: Toward a New Analysis and New Solutions
    Download the PDF of the Executive Summary (438 kb)
    Download the PDF of the full report (2,064 kb)

    Canadian Cattlemen's Response to the NFU report
    Click here to link to the CCA website and its response document.
    Petition - Sign the petition to include beginning farmers in the Ontario provincial farm safety net program
    The following is a note from NFU Ontario Coordinator Grant Robertson:

    "Young and beginning farmers in Ontario have been experiencing a serious disadvantage due to the government's Ontario Cattle, Hog and Horticulture Payment. This is something that often occurs with Safety Net programming and something the NFU has highlighted on numerous occasions. A group of young and beginning farmers have come together to lobby for change on this issue. One aspect of what they are doing is working with Ernie Hardeman MPP to deliver petitions to the Ontario Legislature to draw attention to this issue. I would urge you strongly to print off a copy of the petition, get a few friends, neighbours or strangers to sign it, and pass it back to Ernie Hardeman's office, at:
    Ernie Hardeman, MPP Oxford
    (Attention: Tara Berry)
    Queen's Park Office, Room 413
    Legislative Building
    Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A8

    Please let us know you have sent in a petition by e-mailing grant@bmts.com so we can track numbers. This is a non-partisan issue, so please send your petitions to Ernie as he has been the one spearheading this in the Legislature. If you wish to copy your favourite political party to also take up the issue, then that of course would be an excellent idea. Thank you in advance for being a part of the solution."
    Pdf icon Click here to download a PDF version of the petition (58.4 kb)



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Who are we:

The National Farmers Union is a direct-membership organization made up of Canadian farm families who share common goals. Every member of the farm family - including the farmer and their spouse and children, ages 14 to 21 - are full voting members of the Union. This structure recognizes that every family member contributes to the farm by working on it directly, or indirectly through off-farm employment.

Associate Members are a valued part of the National Farmers Union family as well. Associate Members are non-farmers who understand that food issues are everyone's concern, and who want to help family farmers build a sustainable and nutritious food system in Canada.

Member families of the Union believe that through an organization that represents all commodities produced in Canada, it is possible to promote the family farm as the most appropriate and efficient means of agricultural production. Our goal is to work together to achieve agricultural policies which will ensure dignity and security of income for farm families while enhancing the land for future generations.

National Farmers Union | 2717 Wentz Avenue | Saskatoon, SK | S7K 4B6
Phone: (306) 652-9465 | Fax: (306) 664-6226
Email: nfu@nfu.ca