Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart reiterated the province's opposition to the federal government's carbon tax plan at Agribition this week. "It's going to impose huge costs on agriculture if it rolls out the way it's been heralded. It'll have the effect of making us uncompetitive in most of our markets because our competitors are not... Read More
Category: Canadian Agriculture Policy
We are two months from the Donald Trump inauguration and as he builds his cabinet, both sides of the aisle cheer or express disappointment. But there are other things happening inside the Trump camp that are likely creating stress for the future of his trade policy. Going back to the campaign, there has been one... Read More
With the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) tuberculosis investigation ongoing and no clearly-defined ending in sight, concern is rising for the ranches involved. Currently, compensation only exists if animals need to be destroyed. At the Agriculture Committee meeting in Ottawa this week, it was made very clear that the status quo is going to leave... Read More
Stating a "weight of evidence" that neonicotinoid imidacloprid poses too high a risk to aquatic insects, Health Canada announced today a proposed three-year phase out of the insecticide. In Canada, imidacloprid is used in some cereal and potato seed treatments, as well as within the horticulture industry. Health Canada says it drew on data submitted... Read More
Glen Murray is not the favourite son of Ontario’s farming industry. The Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) has made few friends in the Ontario farm sector with his push to restrict use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, dismiss sound science, and impose the will of his urban-dominated government on the province's farmers. That’s... Read More
To quote Monty Python: Always look on the bright side of life. And so that's how we'll begin a discussion on Ontario's Environment Commissioner's latest report entitled, Putting Soil Health First. There's some great stuff in there: recognizing that our agricultural soils' health is paramount to long-term soil productivity, that living roots and residue cover... Read More
This past week it was reported by the Globe and Mail and others that CNN had uncovered a very secret internal memo from the Donald Trump transition team. The memo disclosed that a suggested tactic in the NAFTA renegotiation would be to reinstate Country of Origin Labelling (COOL). Don't Miss: Shaun on RFD-TV this week... Read More
It's not often we hear grain company spokespeople commend railways, but that's the case this fall, as the grain supply chain handles one of the largest crops in Western Canadian history. "As a general statement, we think rail performance has been pretty good this fall," says Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator... Read More
Six years after Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia signed on, Manitoba has finally joined the New West Partnership Trade Agreement. The province's previous NDP government held out of the interprovincial deal, but the Progressive Conservatives, who formed government in April, have long been in favour of joining the neighbours to the west. “Business owners, community... Read More
The comment period is officially open on the Ontario government's carbon Offsets Credits Regulatory Proposal. Launched this week by Ontario's minister of the environment and climate change Glen Murray while at the United Nations' 22nd Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Morocco, the comment period runs for 45 days. The proposed regulation allows companies... Read More