Federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) ministers of agriculture from across Canada met in Ottawa on Monday to discuss the next agricultural policy framework ahead of their annual meeting in Saskatoon in July, where they hope to sign a new five-year agreement. The ministers, nine of whom attended in-person, spent their morning session discussing want they... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
Canada has once again been approved to export not only live cattle, but also beef products, to Brazil, who shut the doors on Canadian beef exports after Canada confirmed a case of BSE in 2003. Based on Canada's BSE controlled risk status, live cattle have been approved for export to Brazil since July 2018, however,... Read More
Declarations of grain eligibility is nothing new for western Canadian producers, however, producers in eastern Canada will need to familiarize themselves with the soon-to-be implemented process. The change comes in the wake of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which was signed in 2018. Declaration requirements were put in place in Western Canada during the 2020-2021... Read More
Ontarians head to the polls June 2, 2022, to elect the next premier, and Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) wants the next provincial government to focus on six priorities to support the growth of Ontario‘s grain and oilseed industry. In the coming weeks, over the course of the election campaign, GFO and RealAgriculture will feature... Read More
Public opinion is sometimes tough to gauge with many jumping on social media to air any slight inconvenience, which can then skew the perception of people, services, and even entire industries. This is where comprehensive surveys, such as the one spearheaded by Grassroots Public Affairs, plays an important role to see how Canadians truly feel... Read More
50 years ago this summer, Soviet agents traveled to North America in the middle of the Cold War and secretly bought massive amounts of grain, driving up world prices in one of the most significant events in the history of commodity trading — later dubbed the "Great Grain Robbery." Russ Crawford, who had a front-row... Read More
The enrolment deadline for the AgriStability program has been extended from April 30, 2022 to June 30, 2022, without penalty, the federal government says. The decision to extend was based on numerous uncertainties farmers are facing, including the recent onset of highly pathogenic avian flu across much of Canada, along with unprecedented pricing challenges and... Read More
If I buy the best golf club, am I the best golfer? By the same token, if someone plants a cover crop, are they taking better care of soil health than someone who doesn't? Not necessarily, says Shaun Haney, founder of RealAgriculture and host of RealAg Radio. The trouble is, policy can be prescriptive (i.e.,... Read More
In late March, the federal government announced a 60-day consultation on the Pest Control Products Act, specifically regarding how Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) can “transform” its pesticide review and approval processes. The review is general, and will take in comments from consultation sessions with provincial and territorial governments, non-governmental organizations, academia, Indigenous... Read More
Earlier this month the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposal which could open the export doors even wider for Canadian canola producers. The proposed plan would recognize renewable diesel and jet fuel made from canola oil as “advanced biofuels” under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) is enthusiastic... Read More