Washington/New York | Reuters — The top U.S. trade official on Thursday poured cold water on the prospect of an imminent breakthrough in talks to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hours after Canada’s prime minister struck a positive note. “The NAFTA countries are nowhere near close to a deal,” U.S. Trade Representative […] Read more
NAFTA nations ‘nowhere near’ a deal, USTR says
U.S. lawmakers skeptical of promises to shield farmers from trade dispute
Overland Park, Kan. | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers and the farm industry were skeptical of the Trump administration’s promise to shield farmers from the rapidly escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China, concerned about the lack of details in protecting the agricultural export sector now embroiled in the back-and-forth. Major farming states supported U.S. […] Read more
Trump proposes US$100 billion more in new tariffs on China
Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had instructed U.S. trade officials to consider US$100 billion in additional tariffs on China, fueling an already heated trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump said in a statement the further tariffs were being considered “in light of China’s unfair retaliation” […] Read more
Walmart patents hint at future where its drones tend the farms
New York/Chicago | Reuters — Walmart’s patent filings hint that it may see a future where farmers use its drones to not only spot crop problems but selectively apply chemicals or even disperse pollen to bring shoppers the freshest and cheapest food possible. The world’s largest retailer applied for six patents last year on drones […] Read more
Farmers demand invisible Irish border, post-Brexit
Florencecourt, Northern Ireland | Reuters — Northern Irish sheep farmers like John Sheridan collectively transport more than 1,000 lambs a day over the Irish border for slaughter and shipment to shoppers across the European Union. At the moment, the process is seamless. But Sheridan sees a threat to his life’s work, his family’s future and […] Read more
Farmers seen harder hit by opioid crisis than rest of rural U.S.
Chicago | Reuters — The opioid crisis in the United States is impacting farm and ranch families more acutely than their rural neighbours, according to a survey published by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the U.S. National Farmers Union on Thursday. About three-quarters of farmers and ranchers surveyed said a family member, someone […] Read more
Federal bill brings Canada one step closer to an end-point royalty system
Bill C-18 amends Plant Breeders’ Rights Act to bring it into compliance with an international seed treaty known as UPOV ’91
Reading Time: 2 minutes Federal NDP MPs only delayed the “inevitable” by voting against the Agricultural Growth Act (Bill C-18) in late November, said an Alberta Barley spokesperson at a recent meeting in Lacombe. “It might slow things down a bit, but nonetheless, we believe that it will be approved by Parliament in early 2015, after which work will […] Read more
Farm groups, ag tech companies agree on data privacy standards
Reuters — A consortium of farmer organizations and agriculture data technology providers on Thursday published a set of data privacy and security principles aimed at reassuring farmers that data they share with Big Data services providers will not be misused. The non-binding principles are also meant to provide companies that collect, store and analyze farmer […] Read more
New program takes aim at high early mortality rate of farmers
Stress, poor eating habits and other factors mean farmers have higher rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory issues
Reading Time: 2 minutes You can’t enjoy your farm if you’re dead — but many farmers take better care of their land, equipment, or animals than themselves. “It’s true for my family and a lot of farmers I know,” said Jordan Jensen, who grew up near Raymond and is now project manager of Sustainable Farm Families Canada. “Farmers tend […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
