With high Chinese tariffs on canola, Ottawa must make a concerted effort to resolve trade differences with Beijing and protect canola farmers.Ed White/Reuters
Michael Eskin is a canola researcher and distinguished professor in food and human nutritional sciences at the University of Manitoba.
The development of canola – often referred to as “the Cinderella crop” due to its unexpected success – is one of Canada’s most important agricultural innovations. China’s imposition of a massive 75.8-per-cent duty on Canadian canola seed, which follows a previous 100-per-cent levy on Canadian canola oil and meal, will have a devastating impact on canola farmers and the industry.
Historically, Canada was primarily known for the quality of its wheat, while its production of vegetable oils – corn and sunflower – were quite modest. The Canadian introduction of rapeseed, which canola is derived from, goes back to the 1930s, when an immigrant farmer from Poland received some rapeseed from his homeland. The new immigrant farmer found it grew extremely well in the alkaline soil of Saskatchewan.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, the oil from rapeseed proved to be a wonderful lubricant for marine engines. As a result, there was a major rapeseed growing program in Western Canada. To ensure enough rapeseed oil was produced to meet the demands of the Navy and commercial shipping, another variety of rapeseed was imported from Argentina. After the conclusion of the Second World War and the introduction of the diesel engine, there was no need for a lubricating oil.
Agriculture Canada then raised the question as to whether rapeseed, which grew extremely well in Canada, had a future as an edible oil. It had a green colour and a bad smell. In addition, the oil was composed mostly of a fatty acid and erucic acid, considered to be unhealthy at that time and subsequently blamed for the poisoning effect of toxic-oil syndrome and cardiotoxicity in rats. Nevertheless, efforts were made to see what changes could be introduced to make rapeseed into an edible oil.
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It wasn’t until the early 1960s that major advances were made by two Canadian plant breeders, Keith Downey at the National Resource Council in Saskatoon, and Baldur Stefansson at the University of Manitoba. This was made possible by the introduction of gas chromatography, which provided breeders with a rapid method for determining the fatty acid composition of the new rapeseed varieties. I was privileged to be part of a University of Manitoba group that examined the stability, performance and nutritional properties of the oils from these new rapeseed varieties.
As a result, the newly formed Canola Council of Canada commissioned myself and my colleague, the late professor Marion Vaisey-Genser, to write a booklet on this new oil, called canola, aimed at health professionals and the global food industry. The widely translated booklet proved crucial to the global success of canola oil. It described how unlike rapeseed, the new product was very low in saturated fatty acids and high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are considered essential for heart health.
Canola oil was quickly recognized as a healthy oil for the heart, and once it received Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it became very attractive globally. The new name, canola, was a contraction of the word “Canada,” combined with “ola,” meaning oil. Breeders in Great Britain and Europe followed, converting their rapeseed crops over several years to what they now refer to as low-erucic-acid rapeseed varieties.
A drone view shows canola field flowers near Blaine Lake, Sask. Growers contribute more than $43-billion a year to the Canadian economy.David Stobbe/Reuters
Canola is now one of the most widely grown crops in Canada. The 43,000 canola growers contribute $43.7-billion annually to the Canadian economy and support over 200,000 jobs. Last year, China was the second-largest market for canola, importing canola seed, oil, and meal worth $4.9-billion.
The tariffs imposed by China will make it economically prohibitive to export any canola products to the country. The federal government must make a concerted effort to resolve these trade differences with China and protect canola farmers, many of whom feel abandoned. If such attempts prove unsuccessful, adequate funds must be allocated to compensate these farmers.
Canola is an important Canadian innovation, and while the farmers are harvesting their crop this summer, they need to know they will be protected.