Category: Western Canada

Grain markets headed into the Easter holiday weekend on a bit more volatility, helping most futures stay in the green. Oats were the big winner, rebounding up 4.15% since last Friday, closely followed by 3.5% and 3.15% by soymeal and corn respectively. The U.S. dollar was the big loser of the week, down 0.6%, which... Read More

Globally, the big question in food production – the one that reverberates in any discussion about the future – is who will feed the increasingly hungry world, and how. Most of the focus is on Africa, and the growing population there. So the question goes: Who will feed Africa? Well, after spending two weeks with... Read More

We're racing towards planting season, with field activity about to begin rocking and rolling, Lessons from the new world wheat yield record, the value of soil and subsequent impact of erosion, cover crop management, corn planter down pressure, and more — it's all in this week's edition of the Word the RealAg agronomist Peter Johnson.... Read More

The Alberta government has tabled legislation to once again give producer groups the option of making their check-offs non-refundable. Before 2009, the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act gave commissions the option of refundable or non-refundable service charges. Provincial beef, pork, lamb and potato commissions collected non-refundable check-offs until 2009, when the Ed Stelmach government changed... Read More

334 teams. 1 winner. It's been another fun year of hockey, and while fans of five Canadian teams can dream of winning it all, (okay, maybe four. Sorry, fans of Winnipeg, Vancouver and that unmentionable team), one hockey fan has already locked up a championship. So without further ado... The winner of the 2016-17 RealAg... Read More

Farm Credit Canada recently released its 2016 farmland values report, which breaks down farmland value changes by province. For Canada, the average of 7.9% growth in the value of farmland is certainly good news for those looking to sell or leverage land, but it does represent a slight cooling in farmland prices from 2015, when... Read More

Canadian durum exports to the home of pasta are facing a potential political trade barrier. Italy is moving toward implementing a mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) policy for pasta, similar to the COOL rules the U.S. imposed on beef and pork from 2008 to 2015. The Italian government has drafted regulations that would require all pasta... Read More

Canada’s largest agriculture lender believes predictions of a re-negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are premature and a patient strategy is the best path forward for the Canadian government and the country’s supply managed sector. Speaking at the Canadian Dairy XPO last week in Stratford, Ont., Farm Credit Canada agricultural economist Jean-Philippe Gervais told... Read More

Late last week, Canada's federal, provincial, and territorial governments announced concluded negotiations of a new Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). The CFTA replaces the existing Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), which has been in place since 1995. The CFTA will take effect July 1, 2017, and is designed to "reduce barriers to trade, investment, and... Read More