For as long as we have a supply management system, there will be debates about whether or not we should keep it. The line between for and against is predictable: dairy, egg, chicken, and turkey farmers and those with collective-leaning politics want to keep it, non-supply-managed farmers and free-market thinkers want it gone. Or so... Read More
Category: Eastern Canada
For quite some time the pork industry was less than an ideal place to be. More barns closed than opened as demand waned and environmental regulations increased. It is a different time on the pork industry in 2017. Similar to beef, demand has been very strong, which has prices pushed higher and producers making money.... Read More
The Ontario government is investing $24 million in a baby formula production facility being built by a Chinese company in Kingston. Premier Kathleen Wynne met with Feihe International — the owners of Canada Royal Milk — on November 25th in Beijing, China. Slated to open by 2020, the $225 million plant will be the Chinese... Read More
The bushel is a critical unit in grain farming. It's used to describe volume in many contexts, including a crop's yield per acre, the amount of grain that fits in a truck or bin, and as a fundamental piece of information in grain sales contracts. But not all bushels are the same. More specifically, a... Read More
Weather events, political drama, and moisture concerns in the Dakotas and Western Canada. They're all factors that could move the wheat market in 2018. It's just a case of where, when and to what extend. In this report from the recent Grain World conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Matthew Pot is joined by Rhyl Doyle from... Read More
This week the Ontario government passed Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces Better Jobs Act. Among other changes to workplace laws, it will mean an increase in the province's minimum wage, from $11.60 to $14 on January 1, and $15 on the same day in 2019. With other provinces potentially following suit, the potential impacts are... Read More
A Guelph-based start-up company that has patented a process for isolating glycogen from sweet corn for cosmetic products is receiving $1 million in federal funding. Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield made the announcement at Mirexus Biotechnologies on Friday. "The new plant will allow us to produce our unique material for markets around the world, leading to... Read More
China's insatiable appetite for soybeans will continue to provide support for the oilseed crop through the next year. It will also be the catalyst for soybean acreage to surpass corn for the first time in 2018, says Bill Lapp, president of Advanced Economic Solutions. He shared his oilseed outlook during a panel discussion at the... Read More
For decades, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture has provided pointed advice to provincial politicians seeking to win power in the country's most populous province. Typically, the provincial farm organization could be counted on to lobby for infrastructure investment and renewed commitment to support stronger risk management and cutting red tape. Those issues are still priorities,... Read More
There are 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States and somewhere around 300,000 in Canada. What does their future hold with recent developments in autonomous or robotic technology? We've talked about the autonomous semi truck Otto delivering beer and appliances in the past. Last week, we saw Tesla unveil its electric semi truck... Read More