With the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) tuberculosis investigation ongoing and no clearly-defined ending in sight, concern is rising for the ranches involved. Currently, compensation only exists if animals need to be destroyed. At the Agriculture Committee meeting in Ottawa this week, it was made very clear that the status quo is going to leave… Read More
Category: Stability Programs
Canadian farmers could be among the first to see if U.S. president-elect Donald Trump can live in two worlds – the one in which he keeps his supporters happy, and the other one that keeps the rest of the planet from succumbing to chaos. In his acceptance speech Tuesday, Trump assured the world that he… Read More
Manitoba’s provincial farm group is miffed the province is being left out of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee’s upcoming consultations for the next agricultural policy framework. With the current Growing Forward 2 framework set to expire in early 2018, MPs on the ag committee are planning to tour the country seeking input for the… Read More
Agriculture ministers from across Canada issued what they’re calling the “Calgary Statement” following their annual federal/provincial/territorial meeting, held in Alberta this week. The document outlines the priorities for the next agricultural policy framework, which will replace Growing Forward 2 in April 2018. “We got the framework in place, just how much dollars and how it… Read More
The federal agriculture minister has launched online consultations on what Growing Forward 3 — or whatever name the Liberals give the next agricultural policy framework — should look like. Growing Forward 2, which encompasses most federal and provincial programs for agricultural research, market development and business risk management, expires on April 1st, 2018. Lawrence MacAulay, on… Read More
The media firestorm caused by Earls Kitchen + Bar’s pursuit of the “Certified Humane” standard has quickly become a cautionary tale for both the farm and food industry. It’s a situation a coalition of Ontario farm organizations are hoping to avoid by working with the food and beverage sector to help clarify and streamline sustainability initiatives. Earlier… Read More
The Hon. Gerry Ritz served as Canada’s agriculture minister for eight years — from the summer of 2007 to the fall of 2015. Not everybody agreed with his politics or his personality, but there’s no question Ritz had a big impact on the direction of Canadian agriculture. From ending the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly to… Read More
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has issued his marching orders for his new cabinet. As part of his commitment to “open and transparent” government, the ministerial mandate letters are being shared publicly for the first time. All 30 letters were posted on the Prime Minister’s Office website on Friday, including a letter to Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of… Read More
The AgriInvest program was designed to help Canadian farmers manage small declines in income, but the Canadian Federation of Agriculture wants the government to recognize the benefits of the program are much broader in scope. As one of the four main business risk management programs under the five-year Growing Forward 2 framework, AgriInvest offers producers a savings… Read More
There was a time when it was hard for farmers to access credit — so much so that it spurred the creation of a farm credit corporation, now known as Farm Credit Canada. Those old enough to remember FCC’s creation are also old enough to recount the hardship that was farming in the early 1980s…. Read More
Livestock producers in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, who faced forage shortfalls due to extreme weather events this last year, will be allowed to defer tax on their cattle sales for 2014, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. There is a list of designated regions where tax deferrals have been authorized for 2014 — see… Read More
In 2011, a new provincial cost-shared Risk Management Program (RMP) was created for the Ontario agriculture industry. Farmer leaders across commodity groups came together as the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Coalition (OASC), and worked with the provincial government to design a made-in-Ontario solution to help bring “predictability, stability and bankability to the farming sector.” In the fall of 2013,… Read More
The federal and Manitoba governments are offering AgriRecovery funding to help flooded livestock producers cover feed and transportation costs. The Manitoba government estimates 75,000 acres of hayland belonging to approximately 330 farms around Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipegosis were flooded in May and June. Earlier today, Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and… Read More
The Ontario government has announced a program to help beekeepers rebuild their colonies, as a means to maintain the essential role honeybees play in the pollination of agricultural crops. Harsh winter conditions and ongoing health threats, such as from varroa mites or other pests, have knocked back bee populations. The province is anticipating higher than… Read More
Once again Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz took to the stage at the FarmTech conference to talk to a packed house about the state of agriculture in Canada. This year saw the Minister announce details on two federal Growing Forward 2 programs as well as address a number of other topics including the lay of… Read More