Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz today completed a trade mission to China and India to open new markets for Canadian farmers and agriculture industries. Of particular note, Minister Ritz met with China’s Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu to work to secure permanent access for Canadian live cattle valued by industry at $150 million annually once fully... Read More
Category: Livestock
Fast times are upon us in the North American beef industry. Feed is cheap, calves are in short supply, and credit is a hot commodity. Today Anne Wasko and Shaun focus on the calf market. In particular the rate at which Canadian ranchers are not retaining heifers. As Anne will share with you, the US... Read More
Almost a decade after negotiations began, the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement was signed today in Ottawa by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Korean President Park Geun-hye. The deal is expected to help Canadian agricultural exports compete against American exports, as sales of Canadian beef, pork and other commodities have declined since South Korea ratified a... Read More
With all the excitement about the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in agriculture, it’s important to understand the reliability of information collected by UAVs. Can we trust their accuracy to make farm management decisions? Beyond that, could UAV data tell us something before we see it on the ground? Researchers in North Dakota are evaluating... Read More
While new bilateral trade agreements present many opportunities, international trade is also becoming much more complicated for agriculture companies in the export business, say the authors of a report published by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (read the paper here.) With bilateral deals with the European Union, Japan and South Korea in the works, keeping... Read More
We bring you "This Week on Real Ag" for September 18th, as Kelvin Heppner recaps some of the bigger ag stories from the past seven days. This week's podcast includes updates on harvest, railway and government relations, grain markets and COOL, as well as some dialogue about A&W's new egg marketing campaign. Oh and of... Read More
With potential opportunities in cellulosic ethanol production and feed shortages leading livestock producers to look for alternative feeds, there’s growing interest in baling the leftovers from corn harvest. A corn stalk baling demonstration billed as the first-ever in Canada was held at the 2014 Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, Ontario last week. As part... Read More
I must confess — I'm icked out by the word "animal byproduct". There, I said it. That doesn't mean I don't understand what a byproduct is, nor does it mean I think byproducts shouldn't find a home in animal or pet foods — these are safe, nutrient-dense feed ingredients — but in a world of... Read More
A coalition of North American meat and livestock organizations is keeping its legal options open as it attempts to have U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) rules repealed. According to the industry, COOL is costing Canadian cattle and hog producers around a billion dollars per year. On Friday, a group that includes the Canadian Cattlemen’s... Read More
Snow and freezing temperatures arrived earlier than welcomed in parts of Western Canada this week. We also saw a bearish market report from the USDA and some new developments surrounding the privatization of the Canadian Wheat Board. It was also a week on the road for the RealAg team, as Shaun, Lyndsey and Bern attended... Read More