Like many industries based on plant science and biology, there is a lot of risk. This is definitely the case with the collapse of the Chilean salmon and winter canola industry. Due to lack of proper environmental practices and controls the salmon farms have been infected with a virus which is killing the salmon population…. Read More
Category: Canadian Agricultural Policy
Today I had a chance to talk to Jay Bradshaw, President of Syngenta Canada in his office in Guelph, Ontario. This is part 1 of several clips that I will be posting from my interview with Jay. In this clip, I asked Jay if there was reason for Canadian farmers to be optimistic in 2009… Read More
At the Tiffin Conference in Lethbridge yesterday, Rick Paskal, Chairman of Canada Gold Beef discussed the need and benefits of a truly Canadian branded beef product. Rick passionately told the crowd how Canada Gold is trying to change the way money is distributed through the value chain. The key point being to make sure that… Read More
Larry Hicks of Cattlehedging.com was one of the keynote speakers at the Tiffin Conference yesterday in Lethbridge. Larry spoke about the necessity of risk management in the beef business. Larry very clearly outlined what hedging is and that there is much more involved than calling your broker to buy or sell futures contracts. He emphasized… Read More
Alberta Agriculture Deputy Minister, John Knapp, spoke to producers about how Alberta Agriculture is putting a strategy in place to reconnect with rural Alberta and help to enable success for members of the livestock value chain. Two examples that he gave were: Creating an irrigation department that focuses on improving the efficiency of water application… Read More
Yesterday, I spent some time talking to Dr. Danny LeRoy, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Lethbridge. We spoke at great length about the economy and the affect it will have on agriculture. I was speaking to Dr. LeRoy for research that I was doing for my Grainews column. To say that Dr. LeRoy… Read More
Yesterday, New Mexico Governor, Bill Richardson withdrew his name from the appointment of Commerce Secretary due to a federal probe investigating campaign financing and an ethical business practices. According to very reliable sources, the NY Times is reporting tonight that Tom Vilsack may get the Commerce Secretary job instead. Before your head begins to spin let… Read More
Last week, Mexico cut off the imports of US pork and beef from 30 US plants owned by Tyson, Smithfield Foods, JBS and Cargill. This is in addition to Mexico joining Canada on December 19th to file a complaint with the WTO regarding COOL. Reportedly, the ban had to do with technical and sanitary issues… Read More
Yesterday on Call of the Land, an Alberta Radio Show, there was an interview with the Honorable George Groeneveld, the Alberta Agriculture Minister. Known for his straight forward answers Mr. Groeneveld discusses the highlights of 2008. In the interview he discusses trade with Asia, the implementation of ALMA and ongoing issues with the WTO. This… Read More
I stumbled across this today while I was scanning my news feeds. This video is several years old because it was taken when Tom Vilsack was the Governor of Iowa. I really hope that the new Agricultural Secretary learns some truths about Canada before he meets with Mr. Ritz in the coming year. There is… Read More