Hog farmers across the country have had it bad for a while. Market crashes, disease and deteriorating consumer confidence have been major issues for pork producers for quite some time. Running a hog farm is not easy or glamorous. They require an incredible amount of hands on management from farrow to finish. Hogs are hard... Read More
Category: Agriculture Policy
It is maybe the most unpopular election in the history of Canada but elections provide opportunities. For groups or industries trying to get their message communicated to politicians and the general public, elections provide the opportunity to make quick progress. Will agriculture even make the debates? If agriculture does get discussed, what will be the... Read More
"Those dairy farmers print money!" That's what a friend of mine says every time the subject of dairy farms comes up. Drive down many roads in Canada and it's easy to see how that perception was born. Huge brand new facilities, multi-site operations with finely manicured yards and milking parlors with nicer tile most people's... Read More
The Land Stewardship Act has become a very controversial topic within the borders of Alberta. In December, Realagriculture.com posted an interview with Keith Wilson discussing the potential hazards of the law and why farmers and ranchers should be very concerned. We received many emails on this original story and interview from around North America. It... Read More
By Dr. Cami Ryan, University of Saskatchewan Currently on hiatus in Perth and working on a research project with the Institute of Agriculture at University of Western Australia (UWA), I had the opportunity to the attend Crop Updates 2011. Crop Updates 2011 is Western Australia's premier agronomic event and is sponsored by the Department of... Read More
Is there anything that the Canadian Wheat Board does or says that does not come with controversy? This week the Canadian Wheat Board announced that they are purchasing two lake freight ships at the cost of $65 Million dollars. Much of the criticism came immediately from the Western Barley Growers and the Grain Growers but... Read More
In the last year I have been fortunate to travel across the country talking to farmers and ag-stakeholders about our Canadian agricultural industry. One of the topics that I have observed is the opinion of the job that Gerry Ritz is doing as the Canadian Agriculture Minister. It is my perception that the opinion of... Read More
The Triffid flax export issue with Europe was a major story of 2010. All stakeholders in the flax value chain were impacted with great severity. Farmers couldn't move inventory, prices plummeted, and exporters had cargo in limbo. The finger pointing was intense as everyone searched for the reasons that the previously approved trait had worked... Read More
Canary Seed is not a high acre crop in Western Canada but it has been in the news lately. Mexico and Canada have been in a real trade dispute which prevented Canada exports to enter Mexico. Mexico is Canada's largest buyer of canary seed which has created a real disruption to the crop. It is... Read More
At the Sask Canola meeting this morning Gerry Ritz gave an announcement on some new funding. I attended the scrum with the rest of the ag media and just caught the end of the discussion where he addressed free trade with the European Union and the long term benefits for farmers. Mr. Ritz also commented... Read More