Economics Archives | Manitoba Co-operator

Comment: Global economy hit by severest shock since 1930s

Fast policy response necessary to reduce impact of secondary rounds

By John Kemp April 21, 2020

Reuters – Recessions often start with a small drop in activity which then progressively deepens over subsequent months as the second- and higher-round effects on the economy start to occur. But the current business cycle downturn looks very different. In terms of its scale and sudden onset, there is no parallel since the end of

Cereals, Opinion

Editorial: Shedding light on the heated debate of grain freight rates

By Laura Rance August 4, 2015

One of the most heated farm policy debates of late has been over the fate of the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE) keeping a lid on grain freight rates. In the debate that emerged from the abysmal railway performance through the winter of 2013-14, axing the MRE has increasingly been portrayed as a quid pro quo

The U.S. continues to put pressure on Canada regarding supply management, particularly around the country’s dairy industry.

Dairy cattle, News

Ritz optimistic for TPP

Canada says it has put offers on the TPP table, while the U.S. continues to disagree

By Shannon VanRaes July 30, 2015

Canada’s agriculture minister says Canada won’t negotiate in public when it comes to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the proposed wide-ranging free trade agreement among a group of Pacific Rim countries. Responding to questions at an unrelated event in Winnipeg last week, Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Gerry Ritz said Canada has put forward strong proposals regarding

One of many crops near Roseisle, Man. hit by severe hail June 27.

Crops, Local news

MASC explains why sometimes it defers hail claims

Assessing loss is easier when the crop is still young or has set seed and harder in between those two stages

By Allan Dawson July 16, 2015

As this summer’s hail claims roll in, the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation’s assessment practices are being questioned by farmers who say the agency is too slow to cut a cheque. (MASC) says its spot loss hail insurance program is similar to what private hail insurance companies offer. But at least one Manitoba farmer disputes that

Comment, Dairy cattle

Canada needs a different tact in international trade

Instead of defending supply management it needs to attack competitors’ subsidies

July 7, 2015

Supply management polarizes opinions: defend the status quo or dismantle the system. Unfortunately, this masks important strategic choices with implications for the dairy industry and, by extension, Canada’s agri-food sector as a whole. Canada’s internal debate keeps the country on a defensive footing. It is time to get offensive by focusing on other countries’ agricultural

Crops, Did you know?

Surprisingly few ‘busy bees’ make global crops grow

Conservation of wild pollinators can’t be based on economics alone

By University Of Vermont June 22, 2015

A major international study published in Nature Communications, suggests that only two per cent of wild bee species pollinate 80 per cent of bee-pollinated crops worldwide. The study is one of the largest on bee pollination to date. While agricultural development and pesticides have been shown to produce sharp declines in many wild bee populations,

Crops, Did you know?

Farmers’ market vendors need to give customers more ways to pay

Customers buy more if they can use their credit cards

By Washington State University June 8, 2015

Farmers’ markets wanting to increase purchases by customers should consider accepting more than just cash or cheques as payment, according to Washington State University researchers. “Customers are willing to buy more if they have other payment options,” said Karina Gallardo, a WSU associate professor and extension specialist in the School of Economic Sciences. “They may

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper (l) and Finance Minister Joe Oliver walk to the House of Commons to deliver the federal budget on Parliament Hill in Ottawa April 21, 2015.

National news

Farm and food goodies in federal budget well received

Farmers will get an increased capital gains exemption when they sell the farm

By Alex Binkley May 1, 2015

Farm groups are welcoming federal budget provisions that offer long-sought-after increases in the capital gains exemption on farm sales, the manufacturing equipment depreciation allowance and trade expansion programs. Increasing the capital gains exemption to $1 million from $813,000 has been on the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s wish list for years. Implementing it immediately will “have

Opinion

Editorial: Farmland — always a good buy?

By Laura Rance February 2, 2015

Keep renting, or buy that land now before it gets even more expensive? Alberta farm management adviser Merle Good provided some perspective on that for an attentive crowd at Ag Days last week. So far, it’s been a truism that farmland is a good investment. That’s not to say it is always the right investment

Crops

Investors lulled by high prices

Ending stocks of corn are likely to begin to drop downwards next year

By Shannon VanRaes January 21, 2015

They’re phrases that have gotten a lot of use over the last few months. Analysts and experts are increasingly describing changes in commodity prices for wheat and corn as a “paradigm shift” or the arrival of a “new price paradigm.” But Chuck Penner, founder of LeftField Commodity Research said producers should be cognizant that high

Olymel restarting hog slaughter at Red Deer

ICE weekly outlook: Canola back where it started

CBOT weekly outlook: High U.S. corn prices cut into ethanol production

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