Farmers and the agriculture industry are still waiting to hear about “What we heard” when it comes to the federal government’s fertilizer emissions reduction target. This week, at the Future of Food event at Ottawa, Ont., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau was quite positive about the timeline of a fertilizer tariff money announcement… Read More
Category: Canadian Agriculture Policy
Lobbying is one way to shape public policy. Lobbying is also a long-game — where building relationships, meeting, and continuing dialogue all play a role in whose issue of the day gets put on the front burner. A government has to decide its priorities across industries, based on its own goals and ideals, and also… Read More
The 10 per cent top-up to the federal government’s carbon tax rebate for rural Canadians should be re-evaluated, according to a Liberal MP from rural Nova Scotia. As part of debate in the House of Commons on Tuesday over a Conservative motion to cancel the federal price on carbon, Kody Blois told his colleagues he thinks… Read More
Canada is an exporting nation, of that there can be no doubt. While some countries struggle to produce enough to feed its people, Canada produces more than double what it needs. That creates a clear opportunity, and some would say responsibility, to export food and food ingredients world-wide. Ted Bilyea, distinguished fellow with the Canadian… Read More
A private member’s bill that aims to prevent further market access concessions for supply managed commodities in Canada was approved at second reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday, and was referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade. Bill C-282, sponsored by Bloc MP Luc Thériault, would amend existing legislation to prevent Canada’s… Read More
If you’re like me, the image that the word “exports” evokes is container ships and railways and huge water-side ports. While all of that is very true, there’s more to exports than just commodities and large volumes, says Mairead Lavery, president and CEO of Export Development Canada. Lavery spoke at the Canadian Agriculture and a… Read More
Although insecticide products containing lambda-cyhalothrin, such as Matador and Silencer, are registered and will be available for sale in Ontario for the 2023 growing season, some producer groups are cautioning against use of the products due to possible end-use trouble. The updated label for April 2023 removes feed crops as an approved application, but as… Read More
Rising interest rates mean the federal government’s move to expand the interest-free portion of its advance payment program will save farmers — and cost government — more than originally expected. Last June, the government increased the interest-free amount that farmers can borrow through the cash advance program for 2022 and 2023 from $100 thousand to… Read More
The United States is formally requesting a second dispute settlement panel over Canada’s dairy tariff-rate quota (TRQ) policies under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement (also known as CUSMA or USMCA). “Although the United States won a previous USMCA dispute on Canada’s dairy TRQ allocation policies, the Canadian government’s revised measures have not fixed the problem,” said… Read More
Imperial says it plans to spend around $720 million on building the largest renewable diesel facility in Canada at its Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alta. The plant is expected to produce more than one billion litres of renewable diesel annually from locally sourced feedstocks, including canola oil, the company said on Thursday, noting this fuel… Read More
Battle lines are being drawn over how countries handle environmental and climate programs. It’s been suggested that climate programming could be a clever way for governments to funnel money to farm programs and remain under the radar of trade rules. There’s also the looming discussion of using these programs to “score” commodities on their carbon… Read More
The federal government has made it clear it will not return fertilizer tariff funds directly to farmers who paid the tax, and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture has three other suggestions for how the federal government can spend the more than $34 million collected. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau and Minister of Finance… Read More
The Alberta Canola Producer Commission is prioritizing grower engagement and taking the initiative to communicate with policy makers, says Roger Chevraux, chair of Alberta Canola, RealAgriculture’s Kara Oosterhuis spoke with Chevraux at the first annual Alberta Canola Conference at Lethbridge, Alta., held last week. Chevraux says the board realized a couple years ago that there… Read More
Jill Verwey, whose family operates a mixed dairy, beef, and grain farm at Portage, Manitoba, was elected president of the province’s general farm organization — Keystone Agricultural Producers — on Tuesday. Verwey has served as vice-president of KAP since 2018, and won the election at KAP’s annual meeting over fellow incumbent vice-president, Jake Ayre, in… Read More
It’s been nearly two years since the first in a series of five separate announcements were made regarding plans to build or expand canola crush facilities in Saskatchewan, largely in response to low-carbon fuel policies driving demand for canola oil. Announcements are one thing, but actual construction is another. While Ceres Global Ag has since… Read More