Canada’s agriculture minister says Canada won’t negotiate in public when it comes to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the proposed wide-ranging free trade agreement among a group of Pacific Rim countries. Responding to questions at an unrelated event in Winnipeg last week, Agriculture and Agri-food Minister Gerry Ritz said Canada has put forward strong proposals […] Read more
Canada will not negotiate TPP in public: Ritz
Canada also paying attention to U.S. subsidy programs
Look to crop insurance first: Ritz
While many crops across Western Canada are withering under intensifying drought, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says ad hoc programs are not the answer should producers require assistance. However, tax deferral will be available for affected ranchers. “We don’t need ad hoc (assistance), we’ve got a very comprehensive system of business risk management,” said Gerry Ritz, speaking […] Read more
Transportation review recommendations
Ritz says shippers should be able to charge for cars not delivered on time
Winnipeg — Ongoing assessment of the grain transportation system and better protection for small shippers are two of the eight recommendations made by the Crop Logistics Working Group (CLWG). They will now be submitted to the Canada Transportation Act Review for consideration. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was in Winnipeg Monday to announce the findings of […] Read more
Energy-dense forage for the future
Energy-dense forage could present a viable alternative to feedlots in some instances
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s time for producers to take an annual look at a perennial issue. “What we need to do is get away from our conventional thinking,” Clayton Robins said during a seminar. Annual forage mixes can play a key role in both beef, dairy and sheep production, said the beef producer and former Agriculture Canada research […] Read more
Syngenta scientist casts doubts on neonicotinoid research
One U.K.-based researcher believes the real culprit behind colony collapse is inexperience, poor weather, mites and disease — not neonicotinoids
Reading Time: 2 minutes A Syngenta bee researcher told the recent GrowCanada conference neonicotinoids are being unfairly blamed for declining bee populations. “The risk to bee populations from neonicotinoids as they are currently used and used according to the label, is low,” Helen Thompson, a Syngenta bee researcher, told attendees. The U.K.-based scientist said studies used in the European […] Read more
Tractor parts may soon sprout in farmers’ fields
Tractors made with hemp-based panels have hit the fields as Versatile tests out new technologies
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farmers are one step closer to growing their own tractor parts. Buhler Versatile has begun field testing tractors with a number of resin-infused hemp and agave biofibre composite parts manufactured by the Eastside Group of Companies in Winnipeg. So far, the results from field tests in Canada and the United States have been positive. Now […] Read more
Consumers not stupid, just scientifically illiterate: Doering
A former head of the CFIA says consumers shouldn’t know whether or not foods contain genetically engineered crops because the label is akin to a ‘skull and crossbones’
Reading Time: 3 minutes The old adage the consumer is always right doesn’t hold much cache for Ron Doering. In fact it doesn’t hold any. The Ottawa-based lawyer and former president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency spoke to members of the biotechnology industry during a recent GrowCanada conference in Calgary, urging them to continue to fight consumer demands […] Read moreManitoba believes domestic market has value
Manitoba’s agriculture outlook embraces exports, but also looks to value-added products and customer concerns
Reading Time: 2 minutes When it comes to the future of agriculture on the Canadian Prairies, export markets are top of mind for the region’s deputy ministers of agriculture — or at least most of them. Speaking during a panel discussion at the recent GrowCanada conference in Calgary, deputy ministers spoke of the need to move agriculture forward by […] Read moreOpportunities and challenges follow demographic changes
Immigration is feeding the Canadian population, but agribusiness needs to figure out what is feeding immigrants
Reading Time: 3 minutes The face of Canada is changing — or more correctly, the faces of Canada are changing. “Canada is rapidly moving from being a white country to becoming a brown country,” Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, told attendees at the recent GrowCanada conference in Calgary. And that’s something that should get those in […] Read more
Consumers not stupid, just scientifically illiterate: Doering
A former head of the CFIA says consumers shouldn’t know whether or not foods contain genetically engineered crops because the label is akin to a ‘skull and crossbones’
Reading Time: 3 minutes The old adage the consumer is always right doesn’t hold much cache for Ron Doering. In fact it doesn’t hold any. The Ottawa-based lawyer and former president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency spoke to members of the biotechnology industry during a recent GrowCanada conference in Calgary, urging them to continue to fight consumer demands […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
