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Nevin Rosaasen, APG Policy & Program Specialist POLICY UPDATE TRAINS, MARKET STRAINS & SUZUKI ORDEALS: PROMOTING TRUTH IN THE ERA OF FAKE NEWS On any given day as a producer, you must deal with a whole lot of dung, figura vely and literally for some. The weather, breakdowns, logis cs, pests, and markets are examples of where farmers try to ac vely manage their risk. Now pile on a railway crisis, another market access episode and an honorary degree for environmental ac vist David Suzuki. The la er issues are the hard ones for individual producers to manage for their risks, yet they can have a major impact on your opera on and bo om line. Issues coming out of le field are much more difficult to manage and these are areas where the cropping sector con nues to speak with one voice on your behalf. Since the railroads have existed in Canada, so too have the cri cisms from farmers. The past year is a near repeat of the 2013-14 shipping season with demurrage and contract execu on risk once again eroding cash bids on the prairies and dollars in your jeans. Railcar orders - at mes months behind - con nue to strain interna onal customer rela onships and confidence, not to men on the Canadian brand due to the inability of grain to be delivered on me. APG has been ac vely working to ensure Bill C-49, the Transporta on Moderniza on Act, includes appropriate amendments to ensure a balance of power can be struck between the two major railways and the cap ve shippers. If only farmers were more than 2% of the popula on, like India, perhaps our voice would be deemed louder? Speaking of India, Canadian pulse growers seem to take another shellacking every month with subsequent tariffs, import restric ons or fumiga on mumbo-jumbo rolling on. Our sector worked relessly to ensure that our poli cal leaders were briefed and up to speed for diploma c mee ngs and, once again, our market access issue is long forgo en by the majority of Canadians. Criminal records of the past and technicolour dream coats dominated the headlines, yet our hard work con nues to right this monstrous market interrup on. Grain farmers remain the most trusted members of society in past and recent polls, yet our public trust is constantly under a ack. The public mistrust and misunderstanding of GMOs, pes cides and conven onal farming prac ces stems from influen al people spreading unsubstan ated propaganda in this new era of fake news. The University of Alberta decision to grant one of those influencers an honorary degree s ngs the cropping sector, as the recipient con nues to trumpet fallacies and mistruths around the safety of present day plant breeding and pes cides. The founda on that bears his name is also suing the Pest Management Regulatory Agency for registering neonico noids, and con nues to perpetuate false claims of bee colony declines due to these commonly used seed treatments. Much of the agricultural science community in Alberta has protested the decision, so too has the cropping sector. The public trust of our conven onal cropping systems is constantly under a ack, yet commonly misunderstood. Some mes it is best to let sleeping dogs lie, and other mes "Grain farmers remain the most trusted members of society in past and recent polls, yet our public trust is constantly under attack." 8

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