The major story on every beef industry radar was last weeks WTO ruling in favour of Canada with regard to the U.S. Country Of Origin Labelling legislation. The resulting effect on the market......meh. The fact is, the entire industry is awaiting the U.S. appeal and the looong drawn out process to begin again. It's a... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Forget about the fact that the CWB's SteamRoller campaign cost $1.4 million from the POOL account, forget about the fact it won't stop the Ritz government and forget about the fact most farmers struggle to see the point. The real problem with tha campaign was brought to my attention while I was in Toronto this... Read More
I hear and understand some of the issues that consumers have with the supply management structure. I do at times struggle with other farmers criticizing the supply management structure and saying that "it has to go." Why would a member of the farmer brethren, a fellow peer, a guy that farms right beside a dairy... Read More
This week I attended a meeting in Toronto for the Canadian Seed Trade Association and there was some stunning visuals. If you are in the seed business you are traditionally concerned mainly about purities, hybridity, low level presence, international regulatory harmonization and research. Looking around the room it was quite noticeable that there is a... Read More
New Coke is a formulation and a branding error that will live in infamy forever. People hate when you mess with their favourite brands. The tiniest change can make a big impact. It's a move that can be absolutely devastating if it's wrong, but it's also a move that can be extremely profitable if done... Read More
The CWBs latest attempt to rally support and gain a hearing is an ad campaign designed under the name "stop the steamroller". The print, radio and video campaign focuses on a steamroller with the caption " This is how the Harper government harvests Canadian wheat". The ads, paid for by CWB pool funds, were... Read More
Just when you think you know someone. Open the paper yesterday and it appears that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has offered up the supply management industry in negotiations to allow Canada to be apart of the TPP. I made several calls to members involved with the dairy lobby and trade and the feelings are strongly... Read More
Earlier this week we spoke to Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz about why he thinks the elimination of the single desk will be beneficial to farmers and why he is so passionate about that position. Not everyone shares the exuberance Minister Ritz has over the new marketing landscape for wheat in Western Canada. One of... Read More
Are you having trouble looking down the line at the canola markets? You're not alone. There are a number of sources sending mixed signals to producers. On one hand when we look at the charts, we see that the January-March futures indicate a strong sell (according to Barchart). On the other hand we see fundamentals... Read More
Understanding the cattle market right now can be a real head-scratcher if you don't know what to pay attention to. Trying to determine the factors influencing the wild market swings is like chasing the wind. There are a number of outside factors all exerting some kind of influence from unstable overseas markets to inside bids... Read More