In agriculture — and hey, let's face it, across the world — we like to compartmentalize. Whether you are a conventional farmer, organic farmer, rancher, no-tiller, etc., there's a ton of crossover across all these systems. This topic came up earlier this week on RealAg Radio, when Bernard Tobin, Shaun Haney, and myself discussed our... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Looking ahead to a new year and a new production season with optimism is exciting, and there are plenty of good reasons for farmers to be in a positive mindset for ’23. Challenges can create opportunities, too, so even the less-good can end up manageable with the right plan. As we look to the year... Read More
As much as the 2023 growing season and following marketing year are highly unlikely to be as wild as 2022, there's still plenty of unknowns and volatility ahead. Neil Townsend, analyst with FarmLink Marketing Solutions, says there were definitely head-scratchers in the 2022 season — like when wheat prices shot up, then dropped, then settled... Read More
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has requested new dispute settlement consultations with Canada under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA or USMCA). Ambassador Katherine Tai says her office has identified additional aspects of Canada's dairy tariff-rate quota (TRQ) allocation process that it believes are inconsistent with Canada's obligations after initiating the latest dispute in May 2022.... Read More
The Canadian Transportation Agency has issued its ruling on how CN and CP Rail's profits from transporting Western Canadian grain compared with their regulated maximum grain revenue entitlements for the 2021-2022 crop year. CN's grain revenue last crop year was reported at $592,208,589 — $3,068,088 above its maximum entitlement, while CP's grain revenue was $515,508,638... Read More
As the calendar winds down, so too does the work week and the routines of week in and week out. And so it is with the host of Wheat Pete's Word, Pete Johnson, as he offers this, the last Word of the year. For this week's podcast, Johnson has a little agronomy and a lot... Read More
Justine Hendricks has been appointed the new president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Farm Credit Canada (FCC). Hendricks has held various positions at Export Development Canada (EDC) over the past 16 years, and was named EDC's senior vice-president and chief corporate sustainability officer, of sustainability business and enablement in 2019. She also designed and... Read More
The name Alfred Slinkard often goes hand in hand with pulse production, as his lentil varieties made Canada the world's largest exporter of lentils. Affectionately known as the "Father of Lentils," Slinkard passed away with his family by his side on November 24, 2022. During his lifetime, Slinkard received multiple agricultural awards, but his most... Read More
This month, representatives from nearly 200 countries, met in Montreal for the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The goal of this COP15 was to hammer out an agreement on conservation and biodiversity protection. Pierre Petelle, president of CropLife Canada, says that going in to the meeting,... Read More
The final tally hasn't been published yet, but 2022 will go down as the new record high year for soybean yields in Western Canada, mainly southern Manitoba. Statistics Canada's latest provincial estimate came in at 43 bushels/acre, up from 27 bu/ac in 2021 (see graph below), but Dennis Lange, Manitoba Agriculture's pulse specialist, says he... Read More