Category: Agriculture Policy

Last week at the international livestock congress I heard many speeches about the past, present and future of the canadian cattle industry. At the beginning of congress the Alberta Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development welcomed the delegates to Calgary and wished them the best at their conference. Due to the fact Mr. Hayden is… Read More

By Shaun Haney On Tuesday night I was following my usually routine of watching the National on CBC before I go to sleep for the night. One of the leading stories was about the Ontario government starting an online casino to compete in this massive market against the likes of Poker Stars and Bodog.  This… Read More

By Shaun Haney This week I am on holidays and have been enjoying the fresh BC fresh air and boating on the lake at any chance we can. Even though we are on holidays there is always time for a great half day field tour of some of the local agricultural production. On top of… Read More

I have been thumbing through the Ontario Farmer lately and it continues to strike me that there seems to be a lack of contentious issue in Ontario this year. Are the crops to good? Is the newly created GFO doing the perfect job? Are farmers making so much money they cannot stand the pains of… Read More

How many of you have been at an agricultural meeting and heard the phrase, “the industry needs to speak with one voice.” At first glance this would seem like a very plausible and likely strategy but lets really think about this and analyze it. Do you really think that the cattle lobby will ever really… Read More

As we discuss quite often in the Beef Market Update with Anne Dunford, Canada is very dependent on the ability to export beef.  As everyone knows the market place changed in 2003 when the first case of BSE was discovered in Canada.  Over time Canada has been battling to regain its export markets to normalize… Read More

Earlier this week I published an interview with David Sippell the President of CSTA regarding Bill C-474. Some people emailed me with positive and negative responses to the bill.  I decided to find out more by interviewing the man that has initiated this private members bill.  This also answers criticism from some of you that… Read More

At the ISF 2010 World Seed Congress last week I had the chance to talk to Dave Sippell, President of the Canadian Seed Trade Association about the potential impacts of Bill C-474.  Dr. Sippell discusses the Canadian Seed Trade’s position and why they think this bill would be putting the future of Canadian seed innovation… Read More

We have no shortage of farmer led groups in Canada. Almost every crop has a growers association that represents their interests in Ottawa, tries to create demand for the commodity with end users and consumers, supports the agronomics of the crop and provides services to the members. Many times this can feel disjointed and does… Read More

Last week the Alberta government released the information on a new age verification incentive program. Outside of Quebec, Alberta is the only province to have mandatory age verification. The data shows that even though the process is mandatory below 70% are actually getting RFID tagged. This is concerning to the province and required a response…. Read More