Beijing permitted planting of about four 270,000 hectares of GM corn in 2023.

China corn breeders ready for doubling of GMO planting in 2024

Move into biotech corn being watched internationally as potential threat to imports

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



Fears of a trade blunder Down Under

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



The welcome mat was rolled out everywhere for Bentley producer Jason Lenz, (second from right, seen here at the Dufil Prima Foods flour mill in Lagos) and his colleagues.

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

File photo of a pedestrian crossing in front of the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on Dec. 9, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse)

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

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

“Next year will be more volatile, and that’s saying something.” – Jacob Shapiro.

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


Photo: Thinkstock

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

Cattle producers should have been “big winners” in the trade deal with Europe but the opposite has been true so far, says Dan Darling, who has been representing the cattle sector on this matter for close to a decade.

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