August marks the beginning of the crop year, and for many farmers in Western Canada, it marks a significant anniversary — the removal of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly in 2012. The Conservatives had two minority governments leading up to eventually winning a majority in 2011. As Gerry Ritz, then federal minister of Agriculture and... Read More
Category: Canadian Agriculture Policy
Eastern Ontario's Port of Johnstown will see a $10.4 million infrastructure renewal and expansion to capitalize on growing and emerging markets for Canadian soybean, wheat and corn, and relieve inefficiencies and bottlenecks currently experienced at the port. The federal government will foot $4.8 million of the bill through the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF) to... Read More
As residents of Manitoba gear up for both a provincial election slated for September and the federal election some time in October, the Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) have highlighted priority areas its members will be keeping a close eye on. “Manitoba’s 6,500 beef producers play a critical role in the local and national economy, creating... Read More
Ontario's minister of agriculture is asking — again — that the federal government move on with resolving large-scale trade issues with China, and that the feds provide compensation for the meat sector in the meantime. Following up on a request made in early July and post-federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) meeting of agriculture ministers at Quebec City, Minister... Read More
The trade battle between the U.S. and China has taken a turn for the worse for farmers and ranchers in the U.S. in the past four days. On the heels of President Donald Trump announcing the U.S. would impose a 10 per cent tariff on the final US$300 billion of untouched imports from China on... Read More
U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to increase pressure on China, just as the U.S. trade teams return to home soil this week. The president has announced a 10 per cent tariff on US$300 billion in imports from China effective September 1, a move that will result in essentially all Chinese products — including cell... Read More
The Senate Finance Hearing on United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) took place in Washington, D.C., this week. Discussion centred on the importance of North American free trade to U.S. agriculture and the economy as a whole. Agriculture was well represented on the panel by former USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, who is the current president... Read More
The official leader of the opposition Andrew Scheer was in Saskatoon, Sask., last week and gave a speech to both the Saskatoon chamber of commerce and at the annual general meeting of the Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC). While at the DFC meeting, the topic of the new NAFTA/USMCA was brought up. Scheer tells RealAgriculture... Read More
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau was at the Dairy Farmers of Canada Annual General Meeting at Saskatoon, Sask., this week where she announced $11.4 million in funding for the Dairy Research Cluster. "The Canadian dairy sector is a key driver of jobs and economic growth, especially in our rural communities, and this investment... Read More
What do honey, olive oil, and organic food have in common? They're high on the list of food fraud cases in Canada. Food fraud, defined as mislabeling and misrepresentation of food products to deceive consumers or create unfair competition, may cost the global food industry between $10 and $15 billion per year, affecting about 10%... Read More