After being at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show this week, it’s very clear that the fate of farmers’ profitability rests firmly in the hands of Mother Nature. Starting in 2018, Mother Nature has not exactly been on friendly terms with farmers. The August rains brought significant DON issues to the corn crop, fall and winter conditions… Read More
Canada’s relationship with China is complicated — it involves extradition, unlawful retribution arrests, non-tariff barriers, fake CFIA documents, and a spying telecom company. In the months since the recall of former Canadian ambassador to China John McCallum, the agriculture industry has been waiting very impatiently for a new ambassador. Agriculture’s hope has been that a… Read More
The Senate Finance Hearing on United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) took place in Washington, D.C., this week. Discussion centred on the importance of North American free trade to U.S. agriculture and the economy as a whole. Agriculture was well represented on the panel by former USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, who is the current president… Read More
Confirmation of what producers already know and a reminder of some of the upcoming obstacles has become evident in the latest USDA crop progress and condition report. U.S. corn conditions were reported at 58 per cent at good to excellent, versus the analysts projections of 57 per cent. This is a very slight improvement from… Read More
This year has been a real struggle for huge parts of the Prairies due to the extreme dry bias. July rains have saved some of the acres, and given them a fighting chance. Even though crop conditions have improved, they are by no means out of the woods yet. Recently on RealAg Radio, Megz Reynolds,… Read More
The USDA showed no fear in taking a stand on the projected corn yield in today’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE). Whether due to the late planting dates, unfit soil or pollination timing, the USDA adjusted corn yield dramatically to the downside, while leaving soybeans untouched. The USDA dropped the projected corn yield… Read More
Another weekend of rain in most of Ontario has left Ontario growers wondering what is the best strategy in the most challenging spring in recent memory. There were some areas that were able to get some planting done, but time is really of the essence. Some dust did fly, but on the eastern side of… Read More
With historically slow corn planting in the U.S. and Ontario due to adverse wet weather conditions, the consequences are building. As the doubts on how much of the desired corn will get planted, feedyards are having staring higher feed costs in the eye. The latest USDA planting progress report will come out today (Monday), but… Read More
There was a time when the USMCA negotiation dominated agricultural trade headlines. But that was before the U.S./China trade war standoff. Still, the importance and momentum on ratifying the “new NAFTA” needs to continue. For Canadian agricultural exporters, NAFTA was deemed a success during its tenure, and the USMCA holds the majority of that export-dependent… Read More
Farmers and ranchers across North America have lobbied hard for the continuation of NAFTA and now the ratification of the USMCA. Ratification, however, seems elusive and is stalled for different reasons in all three signatory countries. One of the major obstructions is the section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs still in place. Canada has temporarily… Read More
Perhaps lost in the hustle and bustle of the USMCA trade dealings is the fact that Canada did retaliate against the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs with tariffs of our own on over 40 grocery and food related items. The full brunt of those tariffs is likely just beginning to be felt at the consumer… Read More
In March, Richardson International and Viterra’s export permits for China were pulled due to claims of hazardous pests in the samples. In my opinion, it appears that this is a clear shot across the bow for the Canadian government to rectify the Huawei extradition situation or face more trade consequences. The Canola Council of Canada’s… Read More
In presentations I frequently open up my talks discussing the agriculture challenges in Canada and the United States and then finish the opening by saying, “it could be worse, we could be in the UK.” It always gets a laugh, but for farmers in the UK, a possible crash exit from the EU is no… Read More
In terms of export markets, China has been the holy grail for agricultural commodity producers. Whether it’s pork, beef, canola or wheat, the demand that China’s growing middle class offers presents massive opportunities for Canadian farmers. Likewise in the U.S., farmers south of the border have relied heavily on export growth into China as domestic… Read More
On Tuesday morning while in Winnipeg, Prime Minister Trudeau stated that “we are looking at the possibility of sending a high level delegation to China.” The Prime Minister is facing stiff criticism from western Canadian farmers for the lack of apparent action and response on the canola matter. This critique will only heighten with the… Read More