Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters – Chinese corn breeders are preparing to plant more than double the amount of genetically modified corn next year than in 2023, three industry sources said, with Beijing expected to tightly control the rollout. GM corn will be allowed on about 670,000 hectares (1.66 million acres), in eight provinces next year, including the northeastern […] Read more

China corn breeders ready for doubling of GMO planting in 2024
Move into biotech corn being watched internationally as potential threat to imports

Australia says China has lifted some restrictions on meat imports
Aussie trade minister calls it a positive step in improving relations between the countries
Australia's trade ministry said on Tuesday that China had lifted restrictions on imports of meat from three Australian abattoirs, in the latest sign of improving relations between the two countries.

Fears of a trade blunder Down Under
Farm groups call on Australia not to sign ‘dud’ trade pact with EU
Reading Time: 2 minutes Australian farm industry groups have called on the government to not sign a trade deal with the European Union unless it offers much greater market access for Australian agricultural products. Australia, one of the world’s biggest exporters of farm goods from wheat and beef to wool and wine, has been negotiating a trade deal with […] Read more

As globalization fades new strategies needed
Don’t expect a return to normal geopolitical conditions — at least not if you think the past several decades were normal. That was Janice Gross Stein’s message March 8, in an opening address to the Canadian Crops Convention. The noted political scientist and founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy […] Read more

Canada’s wheat farmers get a warm welcome abroad
‘Keep growing wheat’ message repeatedly delivered
Reading Time: 5 minutes “Glad to see you again — even more glad that you’ve got a full crop to sell this year.” That was the theme of nearly every conversation that farmers and grain sector representatives on the New Crop Missions heard as they travelled for the first time since the pandemic began. “I think the supply chain […] Read more

U.S. wants WTO dispute system fixed by 2024
Appeals body frozen since Trump era; Washington 'very committed' to reform
Geneva | Reuters — The United States is entering a third phase of talks with countries to reform the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) hobbled trade dispute arbitration system and aims for it to be “fully functioning” by the end of 2024, the U.S. ambassador to the WTO told Reuters on Thursday. The WTO’s appeals bench, […] Read more

Indo-Pacific plan wins kudos from cattle group
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Cattle Association is hailing Ottawa’s plan to boost trade with the Indo-Pacific region. About 20 per cent of beef exports already head to the region, with Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong being the top markets. The prospects for increasing beef exports are good, it said. “The Indo-Pacific region holds the […] Read more

Rollercoaster doesn’t begin to describe today’s markets
Don’t expect a return to normal anytime soon, says panel of market watchers
Reading Time: 4 minutes Supply-chain lions and interest-rate tigers and market bears, oh my! That could have been the theme for a recent webinar featuring a host of market analysts, all of whom highlighted just what a volatile time this is. “You have to figure out what is going on in this world, because so much of what is […] Read more

Brazil moves closer to China corn exports as Beijing approves traders
Beijing/Sao Paulo | Reuters – Chinese customs updated its list of approved Brazilian corn exporters on Wednesday, a move a Brazilian agriculture official said could jumpstart sales of corn to the world’s second-largest economy. The approvals could reshape global trade flows and result in fewer sales for farmers in the United States, the world’s top corn supplier. […] Read more

BROKEN PROMISES: It’s been five years of frustration with EU trade deal
The high hopes sparked by the deal are in tatters as Europe keeps doors largely closed to Canadian beef
Reading Time: 5 minutes Dan Darling remembers the tough slog of negotiations in free-trade talks with Europe — and the hope that they would end with major gains for Canadian beef. But five years after the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with Europe, talks continue and potential benefits remain unrealized. “When we were negotiating the deal, […] Read more