What a week for agriculture. At this point, with the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, weeks feel like months in many regards. Our team at RealAgriculture has done a fantastic job of trying to cover all of the angles of this crisis. From pork, to potatoes, and everything in between, farmers are being impacted and… Read More
It’s been an eventful start for the new president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), as Bob Lowe, a rancher from southern Alberta, was elected to lead the national cattle producer group earlier this month. Lowe, who takes over from David Haywood-Farmer, joined us on RealAg Radio on Rural Radio 147 last week to discuss… Read More
We are just ending Q1 of 2020 and it is already a year to remember for generations. As we attempt to deal with COVID-19, governments are also trying to be aware of the economic future. Like you, this COVID-19 outbreak has impacted my family and business. Graduation has been cancelled, baseball season is in jeopardy,… Read More
Whether it is the drop in oil prices due to a major spat between Russia and Saudi Arabia or the COVID-19 outbreak, the ethanol industry is dealing with massive challenges in the short term. Ethanol plants in Canada and the U.S. are reportedly scaling back production as a result, which is creating concern for corn… Read More
Agriculture is a highly competitive global industry that many times receives special attention from governments around the world to ensure farmers survive. This support, of course, takes many forms: subsidies and protectionism, or a commitment to research and export market development. For the past three years North American farmers have been dealing with scarce profits… Read More
After a hiatus, I am back with my weekly “Left on the Desk” column. It has been an unreal week of writing stories for RealAgriuclture and hosting RealAg Radio as the world has succumbed to the realities of COVID-19 and taking serious preventative measures. As usual this week’s “Left on the Desk” features a scattering… Read More
With coronavirus cases on the rise, the federal and provincial governments have increased risk mitigation measures to slow down the spread of the virus. Farmers and ranchers are a relatively independent and often secluded, so the impact of any quarantine would be limited on daily operations during planting or calving. The business risk to agriculture… Read More
For many of the commodity futures in meats and grains, it has been a very rough two weeks of panic selling in response to coronavirus economic impacts. The sell-off has not been isolated to agricultural commodities, as the equity market in the U.S. is now officially in a bear market and down 20% off of… Read More
Early March has brought a very bearish tone to the commodity and equity markets due to concerns regarding the coronavirus. As a result, both the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve aggressively cut their key rates 50 basis-points. The possibility of both countries making even stronger cuts in the coming months is likely… Read More
American president Donald Trump returned last month from a trip to India empty-handed in terms of any new trade deal. India and its prime minister, Narendra Modi, did roll out the red carpet for President Trump, which was topped off by a rally at a cricket stadium with over a hundred thousand people reportedly in… Read More
News of the U.S./China trade deal has largely focused on China agreeing to purchase $80 billion in U.S. agricultural goods over the next two years, but there are other clauses in the text of the deal that have the potential for a large impact on American and Canadian beef producers. The deal also includes a… Read More
United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue held a press conference at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association convention this week in San Antonio, Texas, to talk about the U.S. government’s work on trade, dairy access, and more. As one of the biggest supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump’s agenda, Secretary Purdue boasted about the… Read More
Making decisions based on anecdotes, rhetoric, or hearsay is never a good idea for a government of any political stripe. Using data to enable analytical-based decision leads to choices and policy that can be defended and supported in a more bipartisan manner, if challenged. Recently, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food, Marie-Claude Bibeau has asked… Read More
Due to the trade war between the U.S. and China, the White House used the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) to compensate farmers from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). The compensation was justified based on farmers willing to be “true patriots” for the greater good of America’s decision to call out China on its trading practices…. Read More
It has not been a great two weeks for the agricultural commodity market, as selling pressure has dominated the grain complex. Although corn found positive territory on Tuesday, the rest of the grain commodities were in the red again. “The market had a high expectation of China purchases post-trade deal signing and that has not… Read More