China's blockade of Canadian Canola is going to have a huge impact on agriculture in the province.

David Marit, Minister of Agriculture for Saskatchewan, spoke about that and several other issues Monday at lunch with the Moose Jaw Rotary Club.

“Saskatchewan is 40 per cent of China’s canola,” Marit said. “It’s not a small market for us; it’s billions of dollars. It’s well over $3 billion in total agrifood into China last year.”

China's issues with the safety of canola are not the only trade concern in the international ag market, Marit said.

“It’s a trade issue, that is even above and beyond agriculture,” he said. “It’s bigger than that. We know it is, it’s just getting into the details about it. Obviously, we’ve got trade issues with India on the pulse side, we’ve got trade issues with Italy on the durum side and China with canola, and we heard on Friday that it’s flaxmeal.”

Marit also said that they're concerned about where things are going to go with all the uncertainty.

They are trying to mitigate farmers' risks, but there is about $1.2 billion sitting in producers' bins awaiting the resolution of the dispute.

“It’s a significant amount of canola sitting in farmers’ bins,” Marit said.

He told those attending that the Chinese will not meet with sub-nationals, like Saskatchewan, and that you won't get a meeting with officials unless you're invited.

Marit also spoke about the impact of the carbon tax and answered a question about corporate land ownership before going to Regina for the legislative sitting later that day.