NFU Reports
Major reports by the NFU or co-authored by the NFU
2013
Working for Farm Families for 40 Years – NFU History Book
The NFU was formed in 1969 through a merger of the Saskatchewan Farmers Union, the Ontario Farmers Union, the Farmers Union of British Columbia, and the Farmers Union of Alberta. In addition to these provincial unions, farmers from the Maritime provinces—not organized into farmers’ unions at the time—also became part of the NFU structure.
Read More
Fact Sheet: Will CETA help family farmers in Canada?
According to media reports, the last stages of negotiating CETA are stalled due to a few very difficult issues, with agriculture being one of the most important. Many commentators are framing the matter as stubborn dairy producers preventing all of Canada from cashing in on CETA.
Read More2012
Renfrew County Local of NFU – Letter Requesting Drought Assistance, Oct 1, 2012
"Further to letters written to you under dates July 16th, July 24th, August 1st and August 20th, the Renfrew County National Farmers Union Executive has instructed me to again update the above on the 2012 drought situation many farmers in Renfrew County continue to deal with. Attached you will find a September 27, 2012 Article titled "County Still in Level II Drought."
Read MoreAgriRecovery Assessment for Drought in Ontario
The NFU – Ontario sent a survey to members and received responses from farmers across the province including Bruce, Elgin, Grey, Huron, Lanark, Lennox and Addington, Ottawa, Oxford and Renfrew counties. Those who responded are working anywhere from 8 to 500 acres. Their crops/activities include beef, sheep, pork, pasture/hay, wheat, spring grains, soybeans, spelt, corn, mixed vegetables, strawberries and horse breeding.
Read More
1984 in 2012 – The Assault on Reason
In his novel 1984, George Orwell paints a portrait of a nightmarish future where rights that we now take for granted – the freedom of assembly, speech and to trial – have all been suspended. Acceptance of this totalitarian state is justified by the interests of stability and order, and by the needs a perpetual war. But what makes 1984 endure where other dystopian novels have been forgotten is that Orwell removed one more right that is even more unimaginable in a modern context – the right to think.
Read More
The Great Food Robbery: How Corporations Control Food, Grab Land and Destroy the Climate
The global food system is in profound crisis. More than a billion people suffer from hunger, and their numbers are rising faster than the global population. Yet more than enough food is produced to feed everybody in the world. At the same time we are heading deeper into a global climate crisis, for which the industrial food system is to a large extent to blame. Meanwhile corporations are grabbing huge areas of land and water systems in poor countries, and displacing rural communities.
Read More
Earth Grab Geopiracy, the New Biomassters and Capturing Climate Genes
This three-part book<em 'pulls back the curtain on disturbing technological and corporate trends that are already reshaping our world and that will become crucial battlegrounds for civil society in the years ahead.</em' Vandana Shiva, Founder, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology
Read MoreOlivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food: Visit to Canada from 6 to 16 May 2012, Preliminary Report
On 16 May 2012, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food conveyed to the Government of Canada his preliminary reflections on his visit. Later that day, he held a press conference in Ottawa at the National Press Theatre. He opened the press conference with some preliminary remarks on the visit.
Read More2008
Seeds of Change – Farmers, Biotechnology, and the New Face of Agriculture
Seeds of Change: Farmers, Biotechnology, and the New Face of Agriculture is a documentary film made by University of Manitoba (U of M) professor Stéphane McLachlan, U of M PhD student Ian Mauro, and independent videographer Jim Sanders. It is a balanced yet hard-hitting exposé of the controversy surrounding genetically modified crops and how they have changed the face of agriculture in western Canada.
Read More
Organic Farming: a pioneer’s perspective
Elmer Laird (1924 - 2010), 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 wrote 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.
Read More2006
Farm Women and Canadian Agricultural Policy
While women play a critical role in the day-to-day operation of Canadian farms, there has been no explicit effort to identify their policy needs or their vision of an inclusive Canadian agricultural policy.
Read More