U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack says the United States is trying to regain its competitive edge in world agricultural markets.
Commodity Classic: U.S. fighting for market share says Vilsack
Competitive advantages from superior U.S. transportation have all but evaporated
Study to look at re-opening abandoned rail line
Reading Time: < 1 minute The province and the Canada Infrastructure Bank are putting up $950,000 to study whether it’s feasible to reopen the rail line between Oyen and Lyalta, near Strathmore, that was abandoned more than a decade ago. “Expanding rail transportation networks presents a tremendous opportunity for east-central Alberta,” Oyen Mayor Doug Jones said in a provincial news […] Read more
Bolivia farm region blocks borders, grain transport in protests
Santa Cruz/La Paz | Reuters — Protesters in Bolivia’s farming region of Santa Cruz are blocking highways out of the province, threatening to snarl the domestic transport of grains and food, as anger simmers following the arrest of local governor Luis Camacho. The region, a stronghold of the conservative opposition to socialist President Luis Arce, […] Read more
Schoepp: Our ag sector is a powerhouse but transport woes hold it back
Farmers are paying a big price because transportation infrastructure is not what it should be
Reading Time: 3 minutes Trains, planes and trucks are in constant motion to move Canadian agricultural commodities and value-added products across our massive country to ports for distribution around the world. Our farmers depend on a functioning infrastructure that includes road, rail and the sea. The more interruptions there are to the smooth and timely flow of goods, the […] Read more
U.S. packer profit margins jumped 300 per cent during pandemic, economists say
Increased costs don't explain higher profits, White House advisors say
Washington | Reuters — Four of the biggest meat-processing companies, using their market power in the highly consolidated U.S. market to drive up meat prices and underpay farmers, have tripled their own net profit margins since the pandemic started, White House economics advisers said. Financial statements of the meat-processing companies — which control 55 to […] Read more
Grain handler group seeks Vancouver port governance overhaul
The WGEA, whose members ship most of Western Canada's grain, complain the port is in a conflict of interest as both developer and regulator
Vancouver, Canada’s biggest port and the most important to Western Canada’s economy, needs major changes in how it operates, the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) says. As a statutory monopoly the port authority is both a port developer and regulator putting it in a conflict of interest, according to WGEA executive director Wade Sobkowich. “We […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Increased demand seen, but problems loom
MarketsFarm — Unlike other commodities, pulses aren’t yet feeling ill effects from an economic downturn due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, according to Marcos Mosnaim of Globeways Canada in Mississauga. With consumers panic-buying, there has been increased demand for pulses, as many are non-perishable, Mosnaim said. “These products will be there for ages,” he said, […] Read more
Wildfire-damaged grazing areas up for Saskatchewan aid
Saskatchewan’s provincial disaster assistance program (PDAP) will be opened up to cover southwestern grazing areas damaged by this fall’s wildfires. The province’s government relations minister, Larry Doke, on Wednesday announced producers who incurred wildfire damage on “tame and native lands” intended for grazing may now apply for assistance to get feed for affected livestock. Winds […] Read more
Supply management the hot button at ag debate
CNS Canada — Representatives from Canada’s five main parties met Wednesday in Ottawa to discuss and debate farm policy ranging from risk management to transportation and rural infrastructure ahead of the Oct. 19 federal election. The hot button issue of the debate, however, was Canada’s supply management systems for dairy, poultry and eggs. The topic […] Read more
Canola hailed as a model for value-added processing
Farm Vote: Canola Producers chair says processing of commodities should top Ottawa’s to-do list
Reading Time: 2 minutes Value-added processing has created a stronger canola industry in Canada — and there’s nothing to say it couldn’t work in other commodities as well. “We’ve seen a lot of infrastructure put together in Western Canada to lengthen our value chain here domestically,” said Lee Markert, chair of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission. “For a long […] Read more
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