Ralph Goodale at a news conference in Ottawa on May 7, 2018.

Goodale brings ag trade experience to U.K. post

Agriculture issues are major irritants in trade deals

Since his 2021 appointment, Goodale has pushed the U.K. to drop what Canada claims to be illegal restrictions on imports of Canadian beef. Canada has also struggled with the European Union over implementation of the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) since 2014.

Several bright spots for agriculture in 2024 provincial budget

Several bright spots for agriculture in 2024 provincial budget

School tax rebate stays in place, several initiatives announced for livestock producers

The province aims to reopen two MASC service centres in rural Manitoba this year. That was one of several bright spots for agriculture in the province’s 2024 budget released on Tuesday. Another was the announcement that the 50 per cent school tax rebate would remain in place. “While changes were made to the School Tax


Canada House in London is a long way from a farm near Wilcox, Sask., former federal politician Ralph Goodale concedes. PHOTO: ALLAN DAWSON

Farmers’ friend in high places

Ralph Goodale’s long journey from Wilcox, Sask., to Canada’s high commission in London

It’s about 6,700 kilometres from a farm near Wilcox, Sask., to Canada House on London’s historic Trafalgar Square. But the road that took a long-serving Canadian politician from that village, population 322, to heading Canada’s second-largest diplomatic mission is even longer. Ralph Goodale is a familiar name to Prairie farmers. He served as member of

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You’re ready to roll for spring. Is your financial strategy?

SPRING Farmers face tighter margins as commodity prices plunge and input costs hold firm

Commodity prices are at least a third lower than last year and input prices are stubbornly high, so farmers will need a spring strategy to squeeze every dollar from every acre, experts warn. “There’s going to be pressure on the margins for pretty much most of the crops that we grow in Manitoba and across


Pasture south of Medicine Hat shows little snow cover to rejuvenate water levels as of December 2023 following another drought year in Alberta. PHOTO: ALEX MCCUAIG

Wider conversation needed on climate causes

PERSPECTIVE | Agriculture has a role to play, but so does society at large

It’s tough being a farmer today and it is easy to be fixed on sky watching, that proverbial hope of rain or snow and even perhaps a wee bit of wind. Even as the farmer watches, there are political and social expectations that we, the keepers of the land, do something to change the course

Photo: iStock

Sustainable aviation fuel won’t short food supply, manufacturers say

MARKETS Manufacturers of sustainable aviation fuel say the increase in light duty electric vehicles has created an ethanol surplus

Glacier FarmMedia – Sustainable aviation fuel manufacturers say they won’t compromise food supplies despite consuming large volumes of agricultural products. The U.S. government has established goals of scaling up SAF production to three billion gallons by 2030 and 35 billion gallons by 2050. Most of that fuel is expected to be made using agricultural feedstocks,


The entrance to BrettYoung’s NorthCore facility.

BrettYoung flags efficiencies with new seed plant

Company says turf-focused addition will open space at legacy facilities for ag-related products

The new jewel of BrettYoung’s Winnipeg operations will focus on the turf side of the seed company’s business, but executives say improved efficiencies will carry into the rest of the firm. The new NorthCore seed processing plant is a $20-million investment for BrettYoung, whose business includes forage and turf seed, crop inputs and professional turf

A Moonsyst Smart Rumen Bolus is inserted at MBFI’s Brookdale Farm north of Brandon.

Gut sensors may be one high-tech answer to reproductive efficiency in cattle

From sensors made to swallow to the cow version of Big Brother, MBFI is putting reproductive optimizing technologies to the test

A research project underway at Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives (MBFI) north of Brandon might help cattle operations across the Prairies take their replacement heifer game plan to the next level. MBFI is one of three western Canadian sites feeding data into a four-year study aimed at evaluating how various novel technologies might improve reproductive


Cover crop rooting profiles get a close up during a Manitoba crop tour.

Food giants set out to sell producers on regenerative agriculture

Pepsico and Walmart want to see regenerative agriculture practices used on two million North American acres by 2030

Glacier FarmMedia – Adam Kiel has some advice for farmers confronted by the dizzying array of regenerative agriculture programs on offer across North America. “There are many opportunities, and they are confusing, I’ll be the first to admit. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try something,” said the managing director of the Soil and Water

“The concern is the precedent the MRL neonic decision has set for revoking MRLs based on global environmental considerations. This is a slippery slope and begs the question of which active ingredients are next ....” – Greg Bartley, Pulse Canada.

How EU policies may affect edible bean production in Canada

MRL limits and trade deals that exert influence are risks to Canadian growers

Glacier FarmMedia – He edible bean complex is a unique market among row crops. Whether white, black, kidneys or adzukis, beans are grown under contract and face more consumer- and quality-based directives than corn or soybeans. Yet there are rising concerns about maximum residue limits (MRLs) set out by the European Union for certain chemical