Regulations, by their nature, are country or region specific, but they can have spillover effects into other markets. This is the case with many crop protection products between trading partners — a ban or restriction in one region can have trickle-down impacts on use and even access in another. Many North American farmers have been… Read More
Category: Canadian Agricultural Policy
I wrote a column last week that caused quite a stir, as was the intention. My tongue-in-cheek title did what it was intended to do: it sparked conversation and some lively debate, but it also got some tempers flaring over the increased regulatory burden farmers not just endure, but must also pay for. Read Top… Read More
Since May 2015, when Alberta elected Rachel Notley and the NDP as its government, the province’s farmers and ranchers have had some adjusting to do. Legislative changes, such as Bill 6, have not been without controversy, but we perhaps haven’t seen the sweeping changes many feared. Still, farmers are dealing with depressed commodity markets and… Read More
Last week there were reasons for confusion on what direction the American dollar might take based on White House policy. Most of the confusion last week was driven by comments made by different members of the White House team. “It’s interesting, it’s almost like currency wars at the moment,” says Matthew Pot of Grain Perspectives… Read More
Depending on where you live, fields have likely been frozen now for quite some time. Maybe they’re even snow covered. Now is a great time to spread manure because that firm ground means you can travel and not create compaction, the storage is full, and, well, it’ll work its way into the soil later…right? Well,… Read More
With the Canadian trade team agreeing to the Trans Pacific Partnership, there will be opportunities for the opposing parties to bring up issues with the deal. You can expect both the NDP and the Conservatives to use the TPP agreement as political leverage. The Conservatives, who were previously very critical of the Liberals for not… Read More
The Canadian organic production industry received confirmation today that the federal government will provide financial support for updating organic standards. Today in Guelph federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay annouced the Government of Canada’s commitment to provide the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) the “necessary funds to cover costs associated with the 2020 Canadian Organic Standards… Read More
Throughout the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiating rounds, groups like the United States Dairy Export Council have been lobbying for increased market access into Canada. The Americans are looking for the same kind of access that they enjoy with Mexico. This week we saw the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership… Read More
The Canadian government has conceded the same access to the country’s dairy, poultry and egg markets in the new Trans-Pacific Partnership as was agreed to the initial version of the deal in 2015 when the U.S. was still part of the TPP. Canada and the other 10 countries concluded negotiations on Tuesday for the updated… Read More
Negotiators for the 11 remaining countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), including Canada, have reached a new deal following a two-day meeting in Japan. “Today, I am pleased to announce that Canada and the 10 other remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership concluded discussions in Tokyo, Japan, on a new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for… Read More