The federal government is extending — but also reducing — the weekly minimum grain shipping requirements for Canada's two national railways, as it aims to resolve the remainder of the grain backlog in Western Canada. A new Order in Council will take effect on Sunday, November 30th and require CN and CP Rail move between... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
Today, the United States officially lodged an appeal to the third and most recent World Trade Organization ruling on Country of Origin Labelling (COOL). Canadian Ministers are not pleased with the announced appeal. The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and the Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food issued the following statement... Read More
The Ontario government's plans to reduce the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, the passage of the Bill C-18 (the Agricultural Growth Act) in the House of Commons and actual full-contact jousting at Canada's largest livestock show — Lyndsey Smith and Debra Murphy join Kelvin Heppner on TWORA for November 27th, 2014: Related: Grown-Up Bullying Alive... Read More
Representatives from across Canada's grain sector are in Ottawa today for the launch of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Crops. The group will serve as a forum for "advancing, reporting on and communicating the sustainability of Canadian grain production." "Increasingly, our customers are factoring in environmental and social considerations when sourcing products," said Chantelle Donahue,... Read More
Yesterday, the Ontario premier's office and the ministry of the environment and climate change revealed its plan to restrict the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments. The goal, referred to as "aspirational," is to reduce the number of Ontario corn and soybean acres planted with the seed treatment by 80% by the year 2017. The details... Read More
Western Canadian farmers know all too well what kind of impact the logistical challenges of the last year had on local grain prices, but how did the rail backlog impact international customers? How concerned are they about the reliability of Canadian grain shipments? To get a feel for what overseas buyers are saying, I spoke... Read More
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture held its annual general meeting in Niagara, November 24 and 25th, 2014, where delegates from across the provinces voted in a new president and vice president. Former vice president, Don McCabe, got the all-clear to move up to the role of president, preventing Mark Wales from a fourth and final... Read More
The Ministries of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Environment and Climate Change announced today plans aimed at reducing by 80% the number of acres planted to corn and soybeans using neonicotinoid-treated seed by 2017, a level of reduction that equates to a de-facto ban, according to farm groups. The province says it will consult... Read More
In 2011, a new provincial cost-shared Risk Management Program (RMP) was created for the Ontario agriculture industry. Farmer leaders across commodity groups came together as the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Coalition (OASC), and worked with the provincial government to design a made-in-Ontario solution to help bring "predictability, stability and bankability to the farming sector." In the... Read More
Dairy Farmers of Canada has announced the appointment of Caroline Emond as the agency's new executive director. Emond is a lawyer and lobbyist with over 20 years of experience in political and trade files in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. She worked for DFC from 1998 to 2006 as Assistant Director, International Trade and as... Read More