Canada's railways are navigating two notable federal policy changes — new rules regarding downtime for railway workers and the return of extended interswitching — as they prepare to move the 2023 crop from Western Canada to market. Both CN and CPKC have published their 2023-24 grain plans to mark the start of the 2023-24 crop... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
Both of Canada's major railways — Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) — have published their annual grain transportation plans, coinciding with the start of 2023-24 crop year on August 1. Federal legislation that was implemented after the grain backlog that occurred ten years ago this fall requires the railways to submit... Read More
The Government of Ontario is launching a new round of the Meat Processors Capacity Improvement Initiative, with support of the federal government's Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) program. The $10 million program will provide funding to eligible free-standing meat plants and abattoirs to make short-term investments in meat handling and processing equipment, technologies, and practices... Read More
Last month, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith named her new provincial cabinet, including a new Minister for Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. RJ Sigurdson, the MLA for Highwood, has been appointed to the position, with former ag minister Nate Horner moving to the finance portfolio. RealAg Radio host Shaun Haney had the opportunity to meet with Minister... Read More
This week's cabinet shuffle lived up to the hype of being significant, especially for agriculture. Prior to the shuffle, I wrote about the low chance that (now former) Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau would leave Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, but that was proved to be wrong on Wednesday morning. The shocker was not only that she was... Read More
In politics, often times the battle of inches is brought up. However, it may have been a battle of several hundred yards that lead to the recent federal cabinet shuffle, says Derek Robinson, founder and CEO of Mash Strategy. According to pollsters such as Abacus Data and Leger Polling, the Liberal Party of Canada is... Read More
The Canadian Grain Commission is backtracking on planned changes to wheat test weight standards after farmers and a diverse group of farm organizations raised concerns about the move. On Friday morning the CGC announced it will repeal the regulatory changes that are set to take effect on Tuesday, Aug. 1 as soon as possible. Under... Read More
Two farm groups that generally have opposing views on many agriculture policy files have joined forces in calling on the Canadian Grain Commission to halt changes to grain grading that are set to take effect on August 1, 2023. The National Farmers Union and the Wheat Growers Association (previously known as the Western Canadian Wheat... Read More
A new face to agriculture, but certainly not a new face on Parliament Hill, Kyle Larkin has stepped up to lead the Grain Growers of Canada. Larkin has served in political and lobbying efforts for a decade, including working with two Members of Parliament one of whom served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.... Read More
If you are a fan of this website or RealAg Radio you know one of my favourite topics to rant about is the current Canadian government's lip service to being focused on trade. Much of this is triggered by the fact we are an export-focused nation with much of our GDP driven by trade but... Read More