Livestock producers in Western Canada who have downsized their herds due to drought and feed shortages will be allowed to defer income from the sale of breeding stock when paying income tax. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz today released a list of designated regions in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba where tax deferrals have been authorized… Read More
Tag: Gerry Ritz
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade Minister Ed Fast announced this week that the Government of Canada has opened the Ukrainian market for beef from cattle under 30 months (UTM) and ready-to-eat meat. This new market access marks follows the lifting of Ukraine’s ban on Canadian beef products in 2014. Canadian beef and ready-to-eat… Read More
The federal agriculture minister joined the chairs of Genome Canada and the Western Grains Research Foundation in Saskatoon on Tuesday to announce a total of $93 million in funding for 11 agriculture and aquaculture genomics research projects. $30.8 million is coming from the federal government through Genome Canada, with $5 million from WGRF. The balance… Read More
The group of grain sector representatives appointed to the federal government’s Crop Logistics Working Group has submitted another batch of recommendations for improving grain transportation across Canada. Back in February the group was tasked with identifying ways to improve the crop logistics system and establishing common positions across the supply chain for consideration in the current review… Read More
On May 21, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency warned consumers of a possible food tampering situation where needles and nails appeared to be showing up in potatoes, primarily in our Atlantic provinces. And this week, the growing concern of food and farm tampering was on the agenda, as federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers converged… Read More
A day after National French Fry Day, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced a $1.4 million investment in potato yield research through Potatoes New Brunswick on Tuesday. The AgriInnovation Program funding will be used to identify factors that limit potato yields as part of a national effort to boost “the export competitiveness of Canadian French fries.” “The stakes for… Read More
Haying conditions, new funding for wheat breeding, the International Rapeseed Congress (aka “the Canola Olympics”) and more — here’s this week’s ag news podcast: Sign-up for RealAg’s free email ag news here! Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Alberta Wheat Commission and Canterra Seeds have announced a partnership to fund the development of new Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat varieties at the AAFC Lethbridge Research Centre. A total of $3.4 million, with $1.2 million from the federal government, will be committed over five years to Dr. Harpinder… Read More
Saskatchewan farmers have an extra 15 days to plant greenfeed crops and still receive crop insurance coverage. The federal and provincial agriculture ministers announced the deadline has been pushed back from June 30th to July 15th in hopes it will help mitigate a potential feed shortage. “The lack of moisture through the spring and so far this growing season has… Read More
Coinciding with the “International Year of Pulses” in 2016, Pulse Canada will be launching a consumer marketing campaign across North America with $3.5 million in support from the federal government. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced the funding through Western Economic Diversification Canada at AGT Food and Ingredients in Saskatoon on Friday morning. “This will help… Read More
The Canadian government has taken another step toward following through on its two-year-old threat to retaliate against U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) unless the meat labeling rules are repealed. Canada’s trade and agriculture ministers — Ed Fast and Gerry Ritz — joined Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, and Enrique Martínez y Martínez, Mexico’s Secretary of… Read More
The World Trade Organization has once again sided with Canada and Mexico, as the WTO Appellate Body published a fourth and final ruling on U.S. country of origin labeling rules today. The appeal panel decision affirmed earlier rulings saying COOL illegally discriminates against foreign livestock (read the report and findings here). “The United States has used and… Read More
A fourth and final decision from the World Trade Organization on U.S. mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) rules will be announced in the next few days. The WTO has said its decision on the Americans’ latest appeal to maintain COOL will be shared with members no later than May 18th. Another ruling in Canada and Mexico’s favour would… Read More
In theory, price transparency is required for a free market to be efficient. In reality, farmers like to know they’re getting a fair value for their grain. A lack of transparency was seen by some producers as one of the reasons why the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly needed to be dismantled. That wish was granted… Read More
Farmers and fishing businesses will save a projected $50 million in taxes over the next five years thanks to another increase to the Lifetime Capital Gains exemption announced in the federal budget this week. The exemption, which helps farmers reduce their tax burden when transferring ownership of farm assets, has been raised to $1 million for next year,… Read More