A new report for the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute seeks to educate policymakers about the impact of animal agriculture on economic, social and environmental levels. The report, titled Forces Impacting Animal Agriculture In Canada: A Synthesis, delves into the issues surrounding cattle, dairy and poultry production in the country and how it is interconnected within […] Read more
Report aims to show animal agriculture’s interconnections
CAPI hopes to broaden policymakers' perspective
Chequebook will get a workout, but a good year expected
Economist predicts a five per cent rise in input costs, but says commodity prices should stay high
Reading Time: 3 minutes Think the 2022 crop was the most expensive ever put into the ground? This year might give it a run for its money. The good news, such as it is, is that input costs are no longer shooting up as fast as they did last year. “For 2023 we’re expecting an increase (in fertilizer prices) […] Read more
Opinion: It’s not just oil production that’s keeping diesel prices high
Refinery production has fallen since the pandemic, and that’s unlikely to change
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters – Global shortages of middle distillates such as diesel, gas oil and heating oil are intensifying rather than easing, making it more likely a relatively severe slowdown in the business cycle will be necessary to rebalance the market. U.S. inventories of distillate fuel oil fell to 106 million barrels in early October, the lowest […] Read more
China to step up investment in rural infrastructure
Beijing | Reuters – China will accelerate investment in rural infrastructure to improve its ability to ensure food supply while also stabilizing the economy, according to a plan published by the agriculture ministry on Tuesday. The plan, backed by eight ministries and government agencies, comes amid slowing growth in the world’s second-biggest economy, due to […] Read more
Opinion: Canada’s disappearing ‘average farmer’
Agricultural policy used to be aimed at the middle — but what if the middle is missing?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s agriculture industry has been undergoing significant changes over the past 45 years. Since the 1970s, the number of farms has been steadily declining, but not all farms have been impacted equally — mid-size farms have been hit the hardest, as the number of small and large farms increases. The mid-size farm category used to […] Read more
Schoepp: Don’t be brought down by the constant drumbeat of bad news
Yes, the world faces a lot of troubles right now but we remain fortunate in Canada
Reading Time: 3 minutes Each day we are bombarded with negativity — often regarding food, fuel and housing, those core foundational building blocks in our hierarchy of needs. Without them we start to lose our sense of belonging and of control in our lives and begin to fear for our future. Added to inflation and declining markets is the […] Read more
Market value alone is selling nature short, governments told
Economic valuations needed but 'not sufficient,' co-chair says
Reuters — What is the value of a river? Is it for the nutritional content of the fish it sustains? The economic benefit of the local livelihoods it supports? Or does the river have its own value which humans cannot measure? Such questions may seem removed from the issues the world faces, from deepening climate […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: The larger picture behind drop in canola
MarketsFarm – While the declines in canola prices can be partially attributed to the lack of major weather concerns on the Canadian Prairies and the early development of this year’s crop, an analyst said the main reason is on a grander scale. “The major one is the overall drop in the commodity world. For instance, […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: ‘Meltdown’ not yet on canola market radar
MarketsFarm — There’s more to the sharp decline in U.S. wheat and corn futures than the possibility of Ukrainian exports returning to the global market along with the massive liquidation of longs, according to analyst Errol Anderson of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. “My theory with what is going on is that we’re seeing a fairly […] Read more
2021 was a very robust year for Canadian ag
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canadian farmers contribute nearly $140-billion to the economy, says a new snapshot of the sector from AgCanada. “Despite COVID-19, the drought in Western Canada, the flood in British Columbia and other trade disruptions, the overall agriculture sector saw growth in 2021 and is expected to continue to perform well in 2022,” the department said. It […] Read more
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