A group of ‘CEO champions’ and senior livestock industry representatives will meet this month to pull together a governance model for Animal Health Canada (AHC) as an overseer of farm animal health across the country. The group aims to have a final report outlining how AHC would function ready in January, says Rory McAlpine, senior
Livestock sector setting stage for Animal Health Canada
Proposal to be presented to the federal-provincial agriculture ministers this summer
Crop exporters face growing competition
Diversifying Canada’s customer base won’t be easy, FCC says in new report
Canada’s agri-food sector is highly dependent on export markets and efforts to diversify the existing customer base won’t be easy in the coming years because of growing competition, says a new report from Farm Credit Canada. While Canada stands in fifth place among the current agri-food exporting nations and has ambitious plans to move closer to first, it’s
Farm groups say ‘Harvest from Hell’ underlines need for carbon tax relief
Fuels used for this operation have not been exempted from the federal carbon tax
Farm groups have fired off urgent appeals for government financial help for producers struggling with a weather-disrupted harvest made worse by the imposition of the federal carbon tax on fuel used to dry grain. Grain Farmers of Ontario and a coalition of Alberta commodity groups sent their requests directly to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau because
China acknowledges domestic pork shortage
Rising prices are now a top political concern for Beijing
News reports from Asia indicate the Chinese government is finally having to own up about that country’s pork shortages due to African swine fever (ASF) and trade disputes. The South China Morning Post has reported that Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua has been assigned to oversee the issue of rising pork prices that could mar October’s
Canadian farmers have made significant emissions reductions
But their contributions are little understood or recognized, a new report says
Canadian farmers receive too little credit for their progress in curbing carbon emissions that cause climate change, according to a new study. The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) recently released the report, which took full aim at another recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. CAPI says it fails to mention “the Canadian
CN and CP quietly posted strong results
Grain and intermodal were among strong sectors as the railways enhanced their networks
Canada’s two major railways have quietly gone about their business in the past year, turning in strong financial performances and building up their networks, even as economic storm clouds gather. They overcame wicked winter weather to record a record grain haul for the crop year ending July 31. As of September, they were still enjoying
Canada’s new ambassador to China authored landmark report on agri-food’s potential
Dominic Barton’s appointment welcomed by farm organization representatives
The appointment of Dominic Barton as Canadian ambassador to China was welcomed by farm leaders but the former business leader and university chancellor will have a lot of issues to deal with besides blocked shipments of canola, pork and beef. The arrest of a Chinese executive in Vancouver on a U.S. arrest warrant soured relations
Food 5.0 challenges agriculture misconceptions
Book tackles fear of pesticides, GMOs and new technologies with facts and common sense
Author Robert Saik concludes his just-released book Food 5.0 with the following observation — “I have immense faith in our farmers to feed the future… we just have to let them.” The book is aimed at the 99.8 per cent of the population who Saik figures have no on-the-ground knowledge of modern agriculture and explains
New skill sets needed in farm workers of the future
Larger farms already well into technology adaptation but properly trained employees key to the future
In the not too distant future, farms will depend on high-tech workers with titles like tech-gronomist, ag tech integrator and knowledge translators, a recent conference of the Canadian Agriculture Human Resources Council (CAHRC) heard. In a presentation entitled Agriculture Skills for the Future, Stuart Cullum, president of Olds College in Alberta spelled out the kinds
Mental health in agriculture partnership expands
Do More Agriculture and Farm Credit Canada are building on their mental health awareness and training efforts
The Do More Agriculture (DMA) Foundation and Farm Credit Canada (FCC) are extending and expanding their partnership to bring mental health awareness and training to rural Canada. The two-day training program, developed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, is aimed at developing community leaders, said DMA Executive director Adelle Stewart. The leaders are trained
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
