It’s the beef recall nightmare that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. The XL Foods voluntary re-call regarding possible E. coli-contaminated ground beef began last week; the list of possibly contaminated products has been expanded seven times. To date, there have been no confirmed cases of human E. coli infections linked to this… Read More
Category: Canadian Agriculture Policy
There is pressure building in the halls of Washington to rescind the mandatory ethanol mandates. With tightening supplies of corn creating higher feed prices for livestock producers and higher food costs for consumers, the pressure mounting in Washington is real. To this point though, according to Kevin Grier of the George Morris Center, nothing has changed. Kevin believes that… Read More
As important as the domestic beef market is, the success of Canada’s beef industry depends on exports. That means a continued focus on growing current export markets and looking elsewhere for new opportunities to market our beef. It’s those relationships that will be responsible for growing the industry. SEE MORE ILC 2012 COVERAGE. Robert Meijer… Read More
This year’s International Livestock Congress gave producers a chance to gather together to talk about some of the industries big issues. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association hosts the event that covers a wide range of industry topics from global economic issues all the way to individual efforts toward sustainable production. Martin Unrau is President of the… Read More
Due to the purchase of Viterra by Glencore, much of the media attention has been pointed at Cargill, Richardsons and Glencore. One company that is maybe running under the radar in their strategy in th open market and overal Canadian operations is Louis Dreyfus. At the International Livestock conference RealAgriculture.com chatted with Louis Dreyfus Canadian… Read More
FREEDOM —-The lack of a specific constraint, or of constraints in general; a state of being free, unconstrained. We have finely past the date of August 1, 2012. For decades some farmers have been lobbying to be removed for the clutches of the Canadian Wheat Board’s wheat marketing monopoly. How many times have all of us heard from our neighbors,… Read More
I was combing through my Twitter feed last night and thought that it felt a little like Y2K — would the stroke of midnight bring certain doom as many monopoly supporters would have had us believe or would the sun rise, just like any other day? Of course, today — the first day of the… Read More
Sometimes knowing when to quit is important. This is definitely something that the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board and the CWB Alliance need to learn. This week, a number of former directors are pleading with the Canadian Supreme Court to rule in their favor. According to the Brandon Sun, Eight former farmer-elected directors of… Read More
NAFTA has been very valuable for agriculture in Canada and the US. An agreement signed by Prime Minister Harper and President Obama looked to further reduce trade barriers. This agreement specifically addresses the crop protection industry and will streamline the product-approval process. As a result, I’m confident we’ll see significant benefits for Canadian farmers. How… Read More
Only days ago it was Canada Day; a day to celebrate our country and embrace all things Canadian. Some think of poutine, but I, and the thousands of other dairy and poultry farms, celebrate our truly Canadian supply management system. It’s how I feed my family, how I feed my country and how I help… Read More
We could easily call this episode of the Beef Market Update the “even Steven” episode or the “good news bad news” episode as it seems as though every point has a counter-point and every yin, a yang. In some cases it’s less of a counter-point than it is a “wait just a minute, not so… Read More
This week the George Morris Center released a paper, which discusses the TPP negotiations and the potential impact on supply management. Al Mussell is the author of the report and he strongly believes that the TPP / supply management discussion is not an all or none scenario. DOWNLOAD THE REPORT Al Mussell believes that Canadian trade negotiators can… Read More
At Canada’s Farm Progress Show today, I asked Gerry Ritz about Canada’s involvement in the TPP negotiations and how it might impact the supply management in Canada of poultry, dairy and eggs. If you cannot see the above embedded audio player, click here
In case you haven’t heard, Canada has finally been accepted into negotiation for membership into the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. The members of the partnership and those that are negotiating to get in are all looking for access to bigger markets for their products and economic growth. Canada is truly going to be on the… Read More
Do you think your job is tough? Seeding and planting (lingo depending on where you live) season is a real hectic time. You get up early and go home late. The days are long but it is nothing in my mind in comparison to what the human resources department is going through at the Canadian… Read More