President Donald Trump revived the U.S. agriculture industry’s hopes of participating in the trade deal now known as CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) on Thursday, but until there’s concrete action showing he’s serious, U.S. farmers and CPTPP member countries, including Canada, should not get too excited. The president is well aware that… Read More
Author: Kheppner
Bayer has confirmed it will be selling its digital farming business to gain approval of its acquisition of Monsanto instead of licensing the digital assets out to a competing company. In gaining regulatory approval of the deal in Europe, Bayer had agreed to license its digital farming package to BASF. However, in a statement shared… Read More
A former senior advisor for a Canadian trade minister has published a report that will raise some eyebrows and counter a common narrative surrounding Canadian dairy and the supply management system. The study, published last week by a new Ottawa-based trade firm called Export Action Global, found Canadians don’t pay more for comparable dairy products… Read More
HyLife Foods celebrated the expansion of its hog processing plant in Neepawa, MB, this week — an expansion that has been driven by growing demand for Canadian pork in Japan and China. The La Broquerie-based company has added 100,000 square feet to the facility, including new cutting floor space, a shipping/packaging area, and more cooling… Read More
Over a hundred thousand people, including our family, visited the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon, Manitoba, last week. The list of things the kids wanted to see had three things on it: horses, the SuperDogs, and all the farm animals. Given the size of the crowd in the ‘Thru the Farmgate’ area, there’s no… Read More
The numbers show grain movement has started to improve in Western Canada in the last few weeks, but it’s up for debate how much credit should go to the railways for their internal actions; the government for increasing its scrutiny; or, simply the warmer temperatures and the arrival of spring. The rail backlog this winter… Read More
Add over a million acres of spring wheat, and subtract more than two million acres of soybeans… There were a few surprises in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Prospective Plantings report published on Thursday. The department pegged soybean acres at 89.0 million acres — more than two million below the average trade estimate of 91.1 million,… Read More
The president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan says railways should have to cover the cost of having ships wait in port for delayed grain shipments. Todd Lewis has written a letter to Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay calling for CN and CP to pay demurrage charges caused by rail… Read More
Update, March 29: Bill C-49 passed third reading in the Senate on Thursday afternoon, sending the bill, with the Senate’s amendments, back to the House of Commons for MPs to consider after the two-week Easter break. The Senate transport committee has approved several changes to Bill C-49 that had been requested by farm groups. After… Read More
The Manitoba government has decided it will not apply a carbon tax to fuels used for heating or cooling barns and greenhouses or to run grain dryers — an exemption that was not announced when the Pallister government rolled out its carbon pricing plan last fall. The province originally said farm diesel and gasoline would… Read More