Manitoba’s provincial agriculture ministry is being merged with its resource development arm under the oversight of the minister responsible for the latter. Premier Brian Pallister on Wednesday announced a reorganization of his government’s ministries along with a shuffle of his cabinet in the wake of his Progressive Conservative government’s re-election last month. The realignment sees […] Read more
Manitoba agriculture merged into new provincial ministry
Future of ag policy remains unclear ahead of election
Ottawa – If polls and pundits are to be believed, Monday’s federal election will result in a minority government — meaning no single party would alone be dictating the immediate future of agricultural policy in Canada. While the true results won’t be known until Monday night, most pollsters are speculating either a Conservative or Liberal-led […] Read more
South America fires could disrupt its farm belt’s rainfall
Santa Cruz | Reuters — Forest fires that swept across Bolivia and Brazil this year could disrupt rainfall distribution across South America’s grains-and-beef producing regions in unpredictable ways for years to come, a scientist and meteorologist said. Recent rains in both countries have helped put out the wildfires, which were likely started by farmers and […] Read more
Liberals pledge revamp of federal farm lender
The federal Liberals’ platform heading into the Oct. 21 election calls for an “expanded and enhanced” role for Farm Credit Canada in supporting the country’s agriculture and agrifood sectors. Platform documents released Sunday last week (Sept. 29) call for the merger of several existing federal financial and advisory services — which the Liberals said are […] Read more
Federal minister for rural affairs among Tory pledges
The federal Conservatives’ pre-election pledges for Canada’s rural communities include a plan to appoint a federal minister for rural affairs. Tory leader Andrew Scheer included that promise Sept. 7 in announcing a list of “specific measures he will take as prime minister to help rural communities across the country,” in the lead-up to a federal […] Read more
Ag extension staffer named Manitoba NDP ag critic
A former Manitoba provincial ag extension co-ordinator will be the new critic for agriculture on the opposition New Democrats’ bench. Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew on Friday announced a new shadow cabinet, appointing Diljeet Brar as his critic for agriculture and for sport, culture and heritage. Brar, a rookie MLA elected Sept. 10 in the […] Read more
Trump questions request for Chinese delay on farm trip
United Nations | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday questioned a decision by his top trade negotiators to ask Chinese officials to delay a planned trip to U.S. farming regions after trade talks last week, saying he wanted China to buy more U.S. farm products. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at […] Read more
Election 2019: Ag groups want the parties to pay attention
MarketsFarm — Two major national farm organizations want the political parties to pay more attention to agriculture as the federal election continues. However, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) have somewhat different takes as to what they see as paramount. “It’s really important that we uphold the quality of […] Read more
Ag minister returned, ag critic downed in Manitoba vote
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives easily kept their agriculture minister while hanging onto a marginally slimmer majority government in Tuesday’s provincial election. Ralph Eichler, the Tories’ ag minister since 2016 and the MLA for the Interlake-area constituency of Lakeside since 2003, defeated New Democrat challenger Dan Rugg of Elie on Tuesday night by a spread of 4,340 […] Read more
Debunking the myths about beef with the facts and truth
Reading Time: 4 minutes Jordan Vos, 21, of Burdett was the senior winner in the Alberta Young Speakers for Agriculture competition at the Calgary Stampede. She chose the topic: ‘Bust a myth in Canadian agriculture.’ Take a deep breath, smell the juicy burger with all the fixin’s… featuring an all-Canadian beef burger! Mmmm Mmmm! One of the biggest myths […] Read more
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