It’s been more than a year since the Canadian government’s decision to implement UPOV ’91 standards for Plant Breeders’ Rights. When it was ratified, the seed industry touted the agreement as a significant driver of new investment in crop breeding and genetics for Canadian farmers. In this Wheat School episode, Real Agriculture resident agronomist Peter... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
Just ten days after Mexico announced it will drop its remaining import restrictions on Canadian beef, Taiwan has lifted its temporary ban on Canadian beef, effective July 8. The ban was issued following the February 2015 case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Alberta. "The Government of Canada welcomes the news of another restored market,"... Read More
With questions being asked about the future of the Canada-Europe trade agreement following the UK's vote to leave the European Union, the EU has laid out its plan to approve the deal. The European Commission on Tuesday formally proposed to the Council of the EU the signature and conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade... Read More
If agriculture wants to reduce the potential impact neonicotinoid seed treatments have on pollinators, it has to modify standard vacuum planters. That's the verdict from Ridgetown College, University of Guelph researcher Dr. Art Schaafsma. “Essentially, what we’ve created is a drift problem,” says Schaafsma, who spoke publicly about his research for the first time last... Read More
After a series of failed attempts by EU member states to reach a consensus to renew authorization for glyphosate, the European Union Commission plans to issue an 18 month extension for the popular herbicide. On Tuesday, just two days before EU authorization for glyphosate was set to expire, Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis committed to extending... Read More
As of October 1, 2016, Mexico will fully re-open its border to Canadian beef, ending one of the few trade restrictions that still remain from the initial discovery of a case of BSE in Canada in May 2003. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement in Ottawa on... Read More
Before applying a plant growth regulator containing chlormequat to wheat, make sure you've confirmed you have a buyer willing to purchase it, because most of the major grain companies say they won't. Potentially a valuable tool in reducing lodging, many growers are interested in applying Manipulator, a PGR introduced in Canada by Engage Agro in... Read More
At least 29 farmers will receive less than 15 cents on the dollar for crops they delivered to Naber Specialty Grains Ltd., the Melfort, Saskatchewan-based specialty crop buyer that went into receivership in June 2015. The commissioner for the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), Murdoch MacKay, suggests proposed changes to the CGC's producer payment security program... Read More
If you listen to the radio in Canada at all, you’ve likely heard the same advertisement I’ve heard. It’s the man describing the 200 thousand kids that take part in the Timbits soccer program, with a child thinking 200 thousand children must be every kid in the world. Every time I the commercial, I wonder...how... Read More
Dear Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, It's only the middle of June right now, but there's potential for a big crop in Western Canada this fall. Alberta's latest crop report pegged growing conditions at 80 percent good to excellent, eight percent better than the five-year average. The Saskatchewan ag ministry's most recent update... Read More