Big changes are underway inside the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, but the province’s new NDP agriculture minister says he doesn’t foresee any major shifts in Alberta’s agriculture policies. Oneil Carlier grew up on a family farm near Val Marie, Saskatchewan, a fourth-generation beef and grain operation now run by his brother. As a teen, he... Read More
Category: Politics
A former Agriculture Canada employee with more than 20 years of experience in the labour movement was sworn in as Alberta's new minister of agriculture, forestry and rural development on Sunday. Oneil Carlier, who lives in Darwell and is the new MLA for Whitecourt-Ste. Anne, was chosen by Premier Rachel Notley to look after the... Read More
When Canada's agriculture and trade ministers --- as everybody expected following the World Trade Organization's latest ruling against U.S. country of origin labeling --- promised to retaliate unless the labeling rules are repealed, virtually all Canadian livestock producer groups and provincial governments who benefit from cross-border cattle and hog trade applauded the federal government's swift... Read More
Update on May 20th: The U.S. House Agriculture Committee, as expected, approved Chair Michael Conoway’s bill to repeal COOL on Wednesday morning by a vote of 38-6. It’s expected the entire House will vote on it in early June. The final ruling from the World Trade Organization against U.S. mandatory country of origin labeling and... Read More
Frost concerns in May are an unwanted but not entirely unexpected weather pattern for Alberta farmers, but unlike some weather, political patterns can come out of nowhere. With the election of a majority NDP government in Alberta last week, many concluded that hell had, indeed, frozen over. That is one heavy frost, if I do... Read More
After 44 years of Progressive Conservative government, Albertans voted for change on Tuesday, electing Rachel Notley and 52 other New Democrat MLAs, including dozens of political rookies. The PCs, under Jim Prentice failed to even remain the Official Opposition, as Brian Jean and the Wild Rose Party claimed 21 ridings. After 44 years of living... Read More
Just weeks before the World Trade Organization rules on the U.S. government's final appeal to maintain mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) rules, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a report to the House and Senate agriculture committees on Friday saying the meat labeling laws have little, if any, measurable economic benefit. The USDA's economic... Read More
Major commodity groups in Ontario have joined forces to make high-profile public pronouncements against the swelling tide of sentiment over their use of pesticides. But at least one organization is not in lock step with the rest Members of some of the largest farm organizations in the province, such as Grain Farmers of Ontario, Ontario... Read More
The Alberta Beef Producers is considering changes to its current check-off options, changes that, if passed, would mean the entire check-off collected would be non-refundable in addition to a new $1/head levy. The proposed added dollar would also be non-refundable. In 2010, the province's check-offs on cattle sales were made refundable, a hotly-contested change. The... Read More
Whether it was the rail transportation fiasco in Western Canada, the ongoing country-of-origin labeling dispute with the U.S., the Canada-E.U. trade deal, UPOV '91, bee health, the Canadian Wheat Board...the list goes on — 2014 was another eventful and exciting year in Canadian agriculture. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz joined RealAg’s Kelvin Heppner to look back... Read More