Agriculture ministers reach agreement-in-principle on new “Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership”
Negotiating a new agriculture policy framework is never easy, but the next iteration, set for April 1, 2023, was particularly contentious. The ministers met in Saskatchewan in July to set out a final agreement.
More $$ for agricultural climate programs, school food policy, and renewed
funding for superclusters: the federal budget through an agricultural lens
The federal budget released in April contained plenty of money for agriculture for once, all of it with a decidedly climate-focused bent.
Bridge fire shuts down CN Rail service to Grande Prairie area for an
unknown amount of time
Logistics issue in 2022 were not nearly the headliner that they were in ’21, but a solitary bridge failure in Grand Prairie shut down grain movement for a week. (See story No.12 for more on rail strikes)
Declarations of grain eligibility in force as of July 1 for Ontario and
eastern Canada
For eastern Canada, grain declarations at elevators was a new requirement as of July 1. A new experience for many, the requirement stems from the USMCA agreement.
Soybean School: Does it pay to plant early?
It’s always nice when an agronomy story gets attention. With the the prices what they were heading in to the growing season, farmers wanted to know how to make the most of the soybean crop.
European natural gas prices are fertilizer markets’ first black swan event
of 2023 crop year
Thankfully, the impact of this event was not as bad as it could have been by early winter, but natural gas prices in Europe were sky-high mid-way through the year.
A gloomy forecast for diesel prices as strong demand expected through 2022
Input costs and inflation dominated the news cycle for much of the year. Serious run-ups in prices — fuel especially — ate in to plenty of profits.
Commodity market pullback is illogical and fear-based, says analyst – RealAgriculture
Arlan Suderman shed some light on an early July market dip.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza confirmed in Ontario poultry flock –
RealAgriculture
Perhaps because it impacted only the feather industry, high pathogenic avian influenza isn’t our top story, but perhaps it should have been, as the impact in the spring and then again in the fall has been devastating to the turkey, chicken, and wild bird flocks.
Linamar announces deal to acquire Salford for $260 million
Ontario-based Salford was bought by Linamar in April of this year.
Teamsters vote in favour of strike mandate at CP Rail
Did we say logistics weren’t a huge issue in ’22? Well, that’s not entirely true as early in the year, labour issues plagued the railways.
Unseeded area in Manitoba estimated at nearly 700 thousand acres –
RealAgriculture
In a complete reversal of weather, Manitoba went from drought level in ’21, to extremely wet in ’22. Turns out, the winner in all that was soybeans, which set a new production record.
Is the federal government actually adding a green tax to pickup trucks? –
RealAgriculture
Climate and environment will continue to be THE issue for the federal government, and a discussion on taxing larger vehicles got plenty of attention.
Trying to wrap our heads around the federal fertilizer emissions plan — a
timeline of how we got to this point
We are two years in to the “aspiration goal” of decreasing fertilizer emissions, but more than a few are still not clear on what the rules are, how the math works, or what progress has been made.
China, Philippines suspend imports of Canadian beef following atypical BSE case
Early in the year, China announced it was suspended Canadian beef imports. As of now, this ban is still in place, but beef exports on the year were still strong.
North American Lamb Company enters creditor protection
The sheep industry might be a minor player on the grand scheme of things, but a very large (the largest) player in the business went teats up — causing a massive sell-off of ewes, most of which went to Ontario. As of now, the Alberta processing plant is conditionally sold to a company with Quebec roots.
Critical fertilizer shipments for Eastern Canada stranded by sanctions against Russia
Unsurprisingly, the war in Ukraine dominated the news this year. The very real impact of it was felt by Ontario and Quebec farmers most who not only had to pay a 35 percent tariff on fertilizer supplies, but also were short product.
Buhler Industries distancing itself from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,
while directors face possibility of sanctions
Staying with the Russia story, Buhler Industries came under scrutiny for its Russian ties.
Elevators working in reverse as Alberta cattle feeders face increasingly desperate feed shortage
A multi-year drought in huge areas of the Prairies saw such incredible feed shortages that elevators were bringing in and metering out grain for hungry cattle.
“Without water, we wouldn’t be here”: Alberta irrigation district raises concerns over blocked access to water
An award-winning piece, an irrigation disagreement just ahead of the growing season caused huge concern in southern Alberta.
BASF to switch core seed treatment after determining “myriad of factors” caused InVigor canola establishment issues
At number two, an emergence issue with BASF’s Invigor canola caused headaches for many growers, and came with few clear answers on just what went wrong.
Why the Coutts border crossing is so critical for Western Canada’s meatpacking and cattle sector
Our top story of the year is an excellent piece outlining the importance of certain border crossings — while the trucker convoy settled in Ottawa, the Coutts crossing also became a target for protesters.
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