Opinion: Not sufficient for gains to outweigh losses in trade

One of the surprise issues of the 2016 U.S. election was trade policy. For decades Republicans and some Democrats have supported a succession of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements including the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement which includes the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations. Opposition to these agreements traditionally was concentrated among Democrats

Export-oriented farmers need to boost lobby effort

Dairy farmers have done a great job influencing politicians, says a former Canadian ag trade negotiator

Export-oriented farmers should emulate dairy farmers if they want to get their policies implemented, says Mike Gifford, Canada’s former chief agricultural trade negotiator. “If you want to influence politicians you basically have to spend money to lobby,” Gifford said during the Fields on Wheels conference Dec. 15 in Winnipeg. “That’s where the supply management sector,


Hands experimenting with wheat in a laboratory

Farm support programs undergo changes

But some farm leaders say more is needed

Growing Forward 2 will transform into the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) next year with some changes to the existing Business Risk Management (BRM) programs, the federal and provincial agriculture ministers agreed at their annual summer meeting July 19-21. The ministers also agreed to calls from farm groups for a full review of the BRM programs

Opinion: Trump’s butcher shop

Donald Trump may want to “Make America Great Again” but his just-proposed 2018 budget contains no plans to make rural America great again. In fact, according to the Trump administration’s budget blueprint, American farmers, ranchers, and down-on-their-luck citizens must achieve greatness with trillions less so it and Congress can bestow a trillion-dollar tax cut on


Editorial: But what about the farmers?

The statistic does give you a bit of a jolt: In 2015 tiny Netherlands was No. 3 in world agri-food exports, with Canada way behind in No. 12 spot. That statistic is highlighted in the second report by the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, which was established by Minister of Finance Bill Morneau and led

The Capitol Building in Washington DC at night, capital of the United States of America

New boss, same brawls

The fate of the U.S. Farm Bill is far from certain in this new landscape

The Trump administration’s turtle-slow start with the Republican-led Congress bodes ill for what it and Republicans said would be a busy legislative year. Tax reform, replacing Obamacare, raising the debt ceiling, and a 2018 budget all await initial action. The GOP chairmen of the House and Senate ag committees, however, aren’t waiting on any White


MacAulay pitches importance of Canada-U.S. agri-food trade

At a recent meeting of U.S. agriculture legislators he pointed out the balanced nature 
of agriculture and food trade between the two countries

Amid rumblings of U.S. action against Canadian agri-food imports, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay recently spelled out the importance of cross-border trade to American agriculture leaders. In a speech in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to the annual meeting of the State Agriculture Leaders and the Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit, MacAulay said in 2016, “$50 billion in agriculture

Derek Brewin will be leading the University of Manitoba’s department of agribusiness and agricultural economics for the next five years.

Brewin named department of agribusiness and agricultural economics head

The five-year appointment began January 1

Derek Brewin is the new department head of the University of Manitoba’s department of agribusiness and agricultural economics. Brewin started the five-year appointment effective Jan. 1. He holds a B.Sc. in agricultural economics from the University of Alberta in 1986, and went on to do an M.Sc. at the University of Saskatchewan in 1994 and


O’Toole supports supply management

The long-shot leadership hopeful is one of the few voices supporting the status quo

While other federal Conservative leadership candidates — including front-runner Maxime Bernier — are lining up to take potshots at supply management one long-shot is offering his support. Erin O’Toole is taking a strong pro-family farm stand in his campaign, putting himself in opposition to others who want to terminate supply management. O’Toole says his position

chickens

Which chicken, in what pot?

Supply management doesn’t fit well with speciality production and a proposed new quota program is a misstep

Over 50 farmers gathered at the St. Norbert Community Centre on November 1 to hear Wayne Hiltz, executive director of the Manitoba Chicken Producers, present the new Annual Specialty Quota Program announced in September. The new program is designed to serve niche markets in the province with fresh Manitoba-raised chicken year round. This is done