With the recent ruling by the World Trade Organization declaring elements of the U.S. Country Of Origin Labelling program to be unfair, Canadian livestock producers feel that the first steps have been made in restoring exports lost when the program began. While Canadian producers applaud the move, there is an underlying skepticism that this decision… Read More
Category: Canadian Agriculture Policy
The major story on every beef industry radar was last weeks WTO ruling in favour of Canada with regard to the U.S. Country Of Origin Labelling legislation. The resulting effect on the market……meh. The fact is, the entire industry is awaiting the U.S. appeal and the looong drawn out process to begin again. It’s a… Read More
With Bette Jean Crews not seeking re-election for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture Presidency, there were three contenders for the the Presidency. The candidates were Mark Wales, Don McCabe and Wayne Black. Both McCabe and Wales were Vice Presidents with the OFA this past year. In an incredibly close second vote, Mark Wales edged out… Read More
Forget about the fact that the CWB’s SteamRoller campaign cost $1.4 million from the POOL account, forget about the fact it won’t stop the Ritz government and forget about the fact most farmers struggle to see the point. The real problem with tha campaign was brought to my attention while I was in Toronto this… Read More
The CWBs latest attempt to rally support and gain a hearing is an ad campaign designed under the name “stop the steamroller“. The print, radio and video campaign focuses on a steamroller with the caption ” This is how the Harper government harvests Canadian wheat”. The ads, paid for by CWB pool funds, were… Read More
Just when you think you know someone. Open the paper yesterday and it appears that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has offered up the supply management industry in negotiations to allow Canada to be apart of the TPP. I made several calls to members involved with the dairy lobby and trade and the feelings are strongly… Read More
Earlier this week we spoke to Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz about why he thinks the elimination of the single desk will be beneficial to farmers and why he is so passionate about that position. Not everyone shares the exuberance Minister Ritz has over the new marketing landscape for wheat in Western Canada. One of… Read More
Yesterday I attended a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon. This was not just any ordinary lunch because it was attended by the Calgary ag-business community and they were all there to listen to the Federal Minister of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz. Mr. Ritz spoke to the group about why he feels so strongly regarding the coming… Read More
It looks as though Japan may consider easing restrictions on Canadian beef imports, as the first of many high level meetings have taken place in Tokyo. The meeting which took place last week inside the Japanese ministry of health and was focused on changing the age limit for domestic testing and import of cattle from… Read More
With the final steps toward the ending of the single desk coming ever closer, the ante continues to be upped as the current CWB board fights to gain a hearing. The extremely polarizing debate continues to cause deep divisions amongst producers, even more so in what appear to be the final days of the CWB… Read More
The CWB board of directors takes yet another hit with its latest resignation. CWB District 2 Director Jeff Nielsen has made the decision to step down, a decision based primarily on his and what he feels are his constituents opposition to the use of pool funds in fighting the governments decision to eliminate the board… Read More
This week Henry Vos resigned from the Canadian Wheat Board for several reasons. I talked to him this morning so that he can get his reasons in the open and in the clear. Whether you agree with Henry’s decision to resign, it is very visible that Henry feels strongly about his reasons and what is… Read More
Yesterday the Federal Conservatives released the new CWB bill which for the first time outlines it’s intentions for the CWB in a non-single desk world. The Act includes everything from the repeal of the old act to the dissolving of the current Board of Directors including the release of Chairman Alan Oberg. We discussed this… Read More
If you make a decision you are bound to be criticized. The Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) is under attack from the NFU based on KAP’s decision to not work with the NFU in their defiance of the government’s single desk decision. In the NFU press release they even state that KAP members digruntled with this… Read More
The CWB’s plebiscite has resulted in a marginal victory for the single desk die hards as John Depape expected on RealAgriculture last week. The next events in this saga will produce predictable outcomes as well in my opinion. Now that the CWB has a form (subject to debate) of approval from farmers they will begin… Read More