There are only a few days left for farmers to weigh in on impending changes to the Canada Grain Act. If all you've heard about so far are changes to user fees, you're not alone. Much of the media attention has centered on the costs of running the Canadian Grain Commission, because, for the most... Read More
Category: Canadian Agriculture Policy
Last week I wrote about the demise of Prop 37, a California bill that called for, among other things, labeling of genetically modified ingredients in food products. It didn't take long after I posted the story for someone to send me a Tweet containing a link to an online petition. The introduction for the petition... Read More
If you had to, how would you rank the importance of food safety, the environment, animal welfare, the cost of food and health, as it relates to agricultural sustainability? Which is most important? Which matters less, relatively speaking? These are tough questions, certainly, but ones the agriculture industry needs to ask to better understand and... Read More
According to the Canola Council of Canada's press release, president Patti Miller has urged the Standing Committee on Finance to "sustain the momentum of Canada’s canola industry by supporting strategic investments and policy direction in three priority areas – research, market development and market access." Her comments are in regards to up-coming potential changes to... Read More
With yesterdays surprise announcement by Dalton McGuinty that he was stepping down as the Premier of Ontario, people took to twitter to speak out in favor and against the tenure of the resigning Premier. As we discussed yesterday, it would appear by the discussion on Twitter that Ontario farmers do not believe very strongly about... Read More
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced his surprise resignation on Monday. It would appear that farmers and the ag-industry will not miss Mr. McGuinty. Whether it was the wind turbine debacle or the urban pesticide ban, agriculture and Dalton McGuinty did not see eye to eye. The #ontag community took to twitter to provide their feedback... Read More
Canada has officially been asked to join the Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade group of now 11 countries representing 658 million people. Trade deals have been a major focus of Stephen Harper's government, but as of yet a major trade deal had alluded him. This TPP invitation, then, is a very big deal. Joining the... Read More
It's the beef recall nightmare that doesn't seem to have an end in sight. The XL Foods voluntary re-call regarding possible E. coli-contaminated ground beef began last week; the list of possibly contaminated products has been expanded seven times. To date, there have been no confirmed cases of human E. coli infections linked to this... Read More
There is pressure building in the halls of Washington to rescind the mandatory ethanol mandates. With tightening supplies of corn creating higher feed prices for livestock producers and higher food costs for consumers, the pressure mounting in Washington is real. To this point though, according to Kevin Grier of the George Morris Center, nothing has... Read More
As important as the domestic beef market is, the success of Canada's beef industry depends on exports. That means a continued focus on growing current export markets and looking elsewhere for new opportunities to market our beef. It's those relationships that will be responsible for growing the industry. SEE MORE ILC 2012 COVERAGE. Robert Meijer... Read More