War in Ukraine has huge implications for B.C. agriculture

The effects of the war are piling onto existing challenges for farmers across the province.

Randy Reay, 69, is a cattle rancher who lives near Jaffray, B.C., in the East Kootenay region. 

He has raised cattle for slaughter his entire life and says that year after year, he's watched his business become more financially demanding. 

"We're selling our beef products at [around] the same price we were five years ago," Reay said. "The price of fuel has nearly doubled. The price of fertilizer has more than doubled. That puts a lot of pressure on us."

Russia's invasion of Ukraine means Reay's expenses will climb even higher. Less availability of fuel, fertilizer and grains, three products exported by Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, and relied upon by B.C. farmers, will affect producers around the province. 

Russia is one of the world's three largest oil producers, and, along with Belarus, among the world's largest exporters of agricultural fertilizer. Both Russia and Ukraine are among the world's five largest wheat producers. 

While B.C. farmers don't import a significant quantity of these products from eastern Europe, prices for all three are determined globally, and the costs of each one are soaring. 

According to Nasdaq, the price of crude oil rose from C$89.45 a barrel on Dec. 17 to $130 on March 17, impacting B.C. farmers' ability to power their machinery and transport their goods. 

According to Doug Zorn, a pork and poultry farmer from Grand Forks, even small-scale operations like his are impacted by the price of fuel.

"It's not like we go and plow a whole bunch of fields and so forth, but we just took some pigs to be processed at Salmon Arm, and we just put out $250 worth of fuel costs," said Zorn.

Meanwhile, the price of wheat futures rose from C$978.33 to C$1,386.07. Livestock farmers rely on wheat and other grains to feed their animals, meaning the cost of producing meat and other animal products is on the rise. 

The value of fertilizer has also shot up. For example, Itafos, a Canadian phosphate-based fertilizer company, has seen its stock rise from $1.46 to $2.21 in the last month. And Nutrien, Canada's largest fertilizer company, producing potash and nitrogen fertilizer, saw its share price jump from $98.03 to $124.

While most Canadian farmers rely on companies like Nutrien for their fertilizer supply, Malcolm Odermatt, who farms wheat and is the president of the B.C. Grain Producers Association, says a shipment of Russian fertilizer he needs for his crops is stuck in Turkey due to Canadian import sanctions. 

"It was already ridiculously extensive, and now it might not even be available," Odermatt said.