As round four of the NAFTA talks comes to a close, you have to wonder why it took the U.S. this long to finally come around to the stiff demands laid out in round four. From auto to dairy, the U.S. provided a list of demands that Canada and Mexico have described as unacceptable, and,... Read More
Category: Western Canada
This was probably not the scenario Bill Morneau envisioned when he decided to leave his Bay Street executive position and run for the Liberals in the 2015 federal election. The finance minister has quickly fallen from star candidate status to liability, as underlined by Prime Minister Trudeau's awkward attempts to block reporters from questioning him... Read More
The tone surrounding NAFTA negotiations certainly turned during the fourth round of talks, which wrapped up Tuesday in Arlington, Virginia. Pessimistic or gloomy would be appropriate descriptors, definitely out of tune, even if you're optimistic. After three rounds with little progress, U.S. negotiators came out swinging, tabling multiple 'non-starters' in the eyes of Canada and... Read More
The federal government's announcement that it will reduce the small business tax rate over the next two years and cancel plans for new restrictions to lifetime capital gains exemptions is "a positive sign," according to the president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Small Business and... Read More
A new software platform from Valley Agricultural Software (VAS) gives dairy producers real-time access to critical data and reporting from anywhere with an internet or cellular connection. The California-based software company unveiled its new VAS Platform at the recent World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. In this video, senior software developer James Moger explains that... Read More
American requests for changes to Canada's supply management system for dairy and poultry are a "non-starter," said Canada's agriculture minister on Monday. U.S. negotiators introduced an initial dairy proposal on Friday, which calls for increased transparency and changes to Canada's milk class system, including the elimination of the new class 7 that has taken away... Read More
Usually Friday the 13th is an unlucky day. For grain prices though, Friday, October the 13th was a good omen. On Friday alone, Chicago soft red winter wheat gained 2.15%, oats gained 1.9%, and corn was up 1.05%. Oats was the big winner of the week, though, up 6.25%. This was followed by soybeans which... Read More
New tractor sales numbers in Canada continue to exceed last year's levels, and sales activity in the U.S. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has released its September flash report on new tractor and combine sales in Canada and the United States. In Canada, four-wheel-drive tractor sales were up almost 80 percent from September of last... Read More
The U.S. introduced its much-anticipated proposal regarding dairy during NAFTA negotiations on Friday, although it did not contain an explicit request for a percentage increase in market access into Canada. The American proposal was focused on changing Canada's milk class system and increasing transparency in supply management. The proposal would reverse recent changes to Canada's... Read More
The tone surrounding the negotiations to update NAFTA has taken a gloomy turn, especially for agriculture, with a growing consensus that there's a real chance President Trump will try to follow through on his repeated threats to pull the U.S. out of NAFTA. Even Prime Minister Trudeau, after meeting with Trump on Wednesday, sounded like... Read More