Almost everyone who lives in a rural area is well aware of the challenges with infrastructure and services — from keeping schools open, to attracting and retaining doctors, to building roads and fixing bridges. Fewer though are likely fully aware of just how far behind their local town or municipality has fallen in keeping up... Read More
Category: Agriculture Policy
The Alberta government says part of "prioritizing jobs for Albertans" includes making changes to the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program in the province. Alberta's government plans to limit the number and types of jobs available to new TFWs — making jobs "available for unemployed Albertans," according to a press release. As of November 1, additional... Read More
The Saskatchewan Party has entered political dynasty territory after winning a fourth consecutive provincial election on Monday. With mail-in ballots still to be counted, the latest tally from Elections Saskatchewan shows Scott Moe's SaskParty team holding 50 seats and 63 per cent of the popular vote, with the opposition New Democrats winning or leading in... Read More
The Ontario Sheep Farmers (OSF) held its annual general meeting October 23, via Zoom, and the chair's opening report directly addressed the ongoing issue of dissension within the membership and the Canadian sheep industry as a whole. "I am frustrated by the distrust in our industry that has led to too many acrimonious and hostile... Read More
Agriculture research and extension in Alberta has been through an incredible few weeks, to say the least. In the last month, several research programs have moved to new institutions and over 250 agriculture-based staff have been let go, as promised in the last provincial budget. The huge changes beg the question: what will provincially-funded agriculture... Read More
Most of us learned early that you need to keep your promises if you want to be trusted. In politics, however, promises are rarely kept; instead, they're wiggled out of, often after an election, giving politicians a terrible reputation in the trust department. In the last several years, supply management has not prevented Canada negotiating... Read More
Fall is often a time when farmers think about pre-purchasing or putting down some fertilizer in order to save a buck and some time in advance of the coming year. For late 2020, fertilizer tariffs on imports into the U.S. is changing the price dynamic and causing some uncertainty. Russian and Moroccan fertilizer companies have... Read More
The Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) is calling on the federal government to keep its promise on compensation for dairy farmers, stemming from international trade deals that allowed for dairy product access into Canada's supply managed value chain. "When a dairy farmer makes a commitment, his or her word is gold. We hold our government... Read More
The Manitoba government's pledge to begin eliminating its education tax on property in 2021 includes farmland, according to a spokesperson for Finance Minister Scott Fielding. The phased elimination of school taxes on property starting next year was mentioned, without any details, in the Progressive Conservatives' throne speech earlier this month. "Given the challenges we face...Manitobans... Read More
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has harmonized diquat maximum residue limits (MRL) with Canada for group 6c (pulse crops), according to Pulse Canada. The regulation, in effect as of today, establishes tolerance of Group 22 active ingredient diquat in peas, dry beans, and shelled beans, but excludes soybeans. The MRL is set at 0.9... Read More