The B.C. government is forming a task force to monitor the impacts of the war in Iran — but the province’s farmers are already feeling the pinch.
The war is causing major spikes in the price of both fuel and fertilizer just as planting season is getting underway.
“Between feed, fuel, and fertilizer, it’s completely out of sight right now, trying to make a living farming,” B.C. Conservative agriculture critic Ian Paton said at the legislature on Tuesday, April 14.
The government has convened the task force to look at this and other potential disruptions. Jobs and Economic Growth Minister Ravi Kahlon expressed concern about supply chains. Approximately 40 per cent of the world’s fertilizer comes from the Middle East, along with large amounts of oil and gas. He’s also worried about impacted pharmaceutical supplies.
“There’s a whole host of things I think we have to identify as vulnerabilities,” he said.
But Kahlon also says there are opportunities for B.C. to gain an advantage in other sectors where the province could be seen as a safe and dependable source. He did not say it explicitly, but the province’s natural gas would be a clear winner.
The war in Iran began on Feb. 28, and recent attempts to secure a lasting cease-fire have fizzled out. Continued blockades mean increasing prices in B.C.
Kahlon said he’s been fielding calls from consuls general and ambassadors from around the world who want B.C. and Canada to alter supply chain routes to help address short-term needs in impacted sectors.
Meanwhile, B.C. farmers are bearing the brunt — and have been for several weeks now.
“This is probably going to be the most expensive crop agriculture has ever put in in my history, and it’s going to be the most uncertain crop,” said Richmond potato farmer Bill Zylmans on March 25 in an interview with Black Press Media.
Zylmans said B.C. farmers generally don’t have the storage capacity to buy fertilizer out of season, meaning they must buy at whatever price it is at in the spring. And large chain retailers like to lock in prices months in advance, making it difficult for farmers when input prices suddenly rise.
“They’re not going to give a wooden nickel in their profit margin,” Zylmans said of the big chain stores. “It’s all going to end up at the producer’s level. And that’s where there’s a lot of discomfort in agriculture right now.”
Paton — being a Delta farmer himself — said that for potato farmers like Zylmans, the huge increase in diesel cost is the most immediate challenge. He gave the example of a farmer with 25 tractors who would normally spend $250,000 per year on diesel, but is now looking at $400,000.
Another Delta farmer, Peter Guichon, said the higher diesel prices are more of an issue, but a roughly 15- to 20-per-cent increase in fertilizer costs adds to the difficulties.
Guichon has about 1,200 acres of farmland, and grows potatoes, squash, rutabaga and cabbage. He said that, unlike some places, about 95 per cent of B.C. farmers buy fertilizer in the spring.
“Any time your costs are up 10 or 15 per cent, if you don’t get it on the other end, you’re going backwards,” he said.
Agriculture Minister Lana Popham was recently in Ottawa and had discussed the situation with her federal counterpart. But they had not settled on any supports for farmers. She also tried to project optimism for the industry,
“I’ve also been out on the ground a lot with farmers, and they feel that this year, they’re feeling positive about it,” she said.
The government’s response since has been to create the Iran war task force. Paton says it is not enough.
“With a province that is so massively far in debt, with such a massive deficit, I can’t see where there’s going to be any added extra money to help out our farmers,” he said. “They’re absolutely under the gun.”