The federal government's transportation bill, which includes changes to railway legislation welcomed by farm and grain industry stakeholders, gained final approval from the Senate late Tuesday, after bouncing back and forth several times between the House of Commons and the Senate. Among other measures, the bill gives shippers the right to charge railways with penalties... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
I read a column recently that made my stomach drop, just a little. The article, a sign-off from seasoned journalist Claudia Cattaneo, showcased not just her career spent covering the oil and gas sector, but also highlighted the current lack of in-depth, credible reporting on a controversial industry. As I read the following, I noticed... Read More
Last week we heard House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) lay down a Congressional schedule deadline for a NAFTA 2.0 deal of May 17th. The negotiators did not meet the deadline and in fact, it was ignored like it never existed. Each country is spinning their version of what is left to do to complete this... Read More
Ontario's provincial election is shaping up to be a two-horse race. Major polls this week show the Progressive Conservative party and Doug Ford holding the lead but Andrea Horwath's campaign for change is gaining ground as voters leave the fading Liberals and consider the front-runners. An Ipsos poll earlier this week pegged PC popular support... Read More
The issue: The Canadian government says it is closely monitoring U.S. biofuel policy discussions, but isn't publicly saying whether it would challenge a proposed policy that the Canadian biofuel industry says would amount to an export subsidy for American ethanol. As part of the ongoing negotiations between U.S. energy and agriculture interests over the future... Read More
The European General Court issued a verdict on Thursday upholding the European Commission's decision in 2013 to restrict the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments (neonics). The ruling is seen as a win for the movement to restrict European farmers' access to the chemicals used to prevent pest damage to crops. Neonic manufacturers Bayer and Syngenta,... Read More
Nearly all of Canada's international trade negotiations, at some point, involve discussions about the future of supply management for our dairy and poultry sectors. We've heard the U.S. dairy industry push hard against the supply management system for dairy in NAFTA 2.0 talks, especially Canada's new class 7 pricing. Some Canadians cheer this U.S. rhetoric... Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario wants to see a targeted growth strategy, a focus on business risk management programs, funding for an educational farm demo site, and signed trade agreements out of the next Ontario government. GFO also says it would like to see an exemption on farm fuel costs associated with Climate Change regulations of... Read More
Round eight of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks has been a month-long process of trying to reach common ground in Washington, with the majority of the chapters yet to be closed. This week, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan informed the trade negotiators that in order for Congress to have a chance to... Read More
Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay is headed to China for a week-long trade mission. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says MacAulay will be meeting with representatives from several Chinese companies, including e-commerce giant Alibaba, HeMa, and GFresh, to discuss opportunities for Canadian food products in meetings taking place May 14 to 18. He will also attend... Read More