How the West can be wooed

“…being poor is not a watertight compartment. The relatively well off this year may be next year’s poor.” Michael Ignatieff, the newly minted leader of the Liberal party, is on record as wanting to re-establish a political presence in the form of elected members from Western Canada. He seems to want to do this through

Instability feared without world trade deal

“If we don’t buy all that stuff from China, they’re not going to buy it themselves, no matter how much the government spends.” – Economist Richard Baldwin World Trade Organization (WTO) members need to lock in existing levels of liberalization rather than pushing for further gains, or they jeopardize a Doha trade agreement and risk


Food irradiation’s time has come

Irradiation shouldn’t replace good manufacturing practices but can be an important step in the right direction. Well, it’s been quite a summer. Who would have thought just a few months ago that food safety would be front and centre as a federal election issue, or that obscure people who work for universities would suddenly emerge

Russia fertilizer firm Acron cuts output

Russian fertilizer producer Acron will cut output by up to 50 per cent this month at its plants in Russia and China as cash-strapped agricultural producers scale back orders and as prices for its products fall. The production cuts, affecting all three Acron facilities, will remain in place at least until the end of November,


Machinery makers find shelter in global storm

In a world where heavy equipment sales are stalling due to the housing slump and credit crisis, the farm market is a rarity: a place where demand is still outstripping supply and many customers are still paying with cash. The question is: How long can the agricultural market shelter the equipment companies from the financial