U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declared on Friday afternoon that “effective immediately” the U.S. Department of Agriculture would not be enforcing country of origin labeling rules for beef and pork. It’s been over seven years since American packers were forced to segregate Canadian animals and meat. How quickly can they go back to operating how... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
After 13-plus years of opposition — the last seven of those in legal and trade disputes, Canadian livestock producers and their organizations are celebrating the end of U.S. country of origin labeling legislation for beef and pork today. Both the U.S. House and Senate voted in favour of the omnibus appropriations bill that includes text... Read More
OmniTrax has accepted a letter of intent from a group of Northern Manitoba First Nations wanting to purchase the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway. It was first reported several weeks ago that the Denver-based transportation company was considering selling its Manitoba assets. The letter triggers a 45 day due diligence period in... Read More
Update Dec 18, 2015: Both the U.S. House and Senate voted in favour of the legislation, including the text to repeal COOL, on Friday. The bill now heads to the White House for President Obama's approval. With retaliation from Canada and Mexico looming, the U.S. government took a step late Tuesday toward repealing its mandatory... Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recently released its report on the 19th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), concluding the likely cause was contamination of feed on-farm. “The carry-over of a small amount of residual contaminated feed associated with an earlier case (17) on the same birth farm is the most plausible explanation for... Read More
The Alberta government passed its new farm labour legislation last week. Bill 6 is supposed to make Workers' Compensation Board insurance coverage mandatory for farm workers while bringing Occupational Health and Safety and labour standards to farms. Amendments made to the bill clarified that it only applies to farms with at least one paid worker.... Read More
If you believe the headlines this week, Canadians will soon not be able to afford to eat. Fruit and vegetables will be beyond an ordinary person’s capacity to pay and consumers wanting to chomp down on a piece of meat will have to order horse, bison or ostrich because beef and pork will break their... Read More
Despite large protests calling on the province to delay or drop the legislation, the Alberta government passed Bill 6, the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act, on Thursday. The legislation passed third reading with 44-29 vote after government house leader Brian Mason invoked closure to limit debate. With mixed messages coming from government... Read More
From the reported merger talks between two giants in the ag input industry to limited talks about the proposed farm labour legislation in Alberta, here’s this week’s TWORA podcast, featuring perspectives from John Masswohl, Ian Brodie, Brian Voth, Derek Jamieson and Richard Phillips: Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS
If you look back 35 years, there have been plenty of changes in Canadian agriculture and the environment in which farmers and agribusinesses operate. There are fewer farms now than in 1980, and they make up a smaller portion of eligible voters. While the societal contributions of farmers are no less important, governments tend to... Read More