Mike Gifford, Canada’s former chief agricultural trade negotiator, says the elements for a deal on agriculture through NAFTA are there without scrapping supply management.

NAFTA ag deal while keeping supply management possible

Mike Gifford says the negotiations are unique because agriculture doesn’t top the agenda

An agreement on agricultural trade under a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is possible without gutting dairy supply management, says Mike Gifford, Canada’s former chief agricultural trade negotiator. The United States is Canadian agriculture’s biggest customer generating more than $50 billion in annual revenues. Terminating NAFTA, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to

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,


Complaints about Canadian grading of U.S. wheat justified: Gifford

American complaints that Canadian regulations unfairly block American wheat from entering Canadian elevators are justified, says Mike Gifford, Canada’s former chief agricultural trade negotiator. “This is a classic issue of where the optics are awful,” Gifford told the 22nd annual Fields on Wheels conference in Winnipeg Dec. 15. “It seems to me it is an

During times of war, a message of courage

During times of war, a message of courage

Our History: December 1943

The image on the front page of our December 15, 1943 issue carried a Christmas message to take courage during the bleak time of the Second World War. Among the news on the front page was that Manitoba’s total Victory Bond sales had reached $99,641,400, just short of the $100-million objective and that the Manitoba


Cattle markets beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Producers are cleaning out their pens ahead of year-end

As the last few days of 2017 wind down, so too does activity at most auction marts in the province. Volumes were noticeably weaker during the week ended Dec. 15 as producers cleaned out their pens before the end of the year. Just over 5,000 animals made their way to Manitoba’s eight major outlets, compared

It takes many pairs of hands to keep the bustling Carman MCC Thrift Shop operating. The non-profit enterprise’s success is due as much from generous time put in by volunteers as the plentiful donations and customers supporting it, says the organization’s president Frank Elias (front right).

Blessings from bargains

Sales of donated items at the MCC Thrift Shop in Carman this year generate $240,000 for Mennonite Central Committee’s international relief, development and peace work

Stella Wiebe has cut up about 4,000 pairs of blue jeans for quilt blocks over the years. But that’s certainly not the only thing she’s done during her long stint volunteering with Carman Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Thrift Shop. She’s been volunteering with the non-profit enterprise since its start, and today is still among its


Crumbling river infrastructure is putting pressure on the ability of the U.S. to meet grain market demand.

Wooden dams and river jams: U.S. strains to ship record grains

In a story familiar to Prairie farmers, the U.S. grain-handling system is creaking under a heavy load

America’s worst traffic jam this fall occurred on the Ohio River, where a line of about 50 miles of boats hauling grains and other products turned into a water-borne parking lot, as ship captains waited for the river to reopen. Such delays are worsening on the nation’s waterways, which are critical to commerce for the

Manitoba Pork swine health programs manager Jenelle Hamblin.

Pork sector learns biosecurity lessons from PEDv

2017 was by far the worst PEDv year on record, but it also forced a hard look at biosecurity and those lessons may lay the groundwork against future pig diseases

The summer’s PEDv outbreak has been a hard teacher on biosecurity issues, but the Manitoba Pork Council says those lessons will help fight future diseases like PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome). The pork sector was rocked in the east this year, with 80 barns testing positive for PEDv, including the first cases west of


Farmer Walking Through Field Checking Wheat Crop

This spring be wheat variety aware

CWRS and CPSR wheats you seed in the spring could be in the CNHR class when you combine them in the fall

Western farmers should review which wheat varieties they intend to sow next spring — because come harvest some could be in a different class. On Aug. 1, 2018, 25 wheats in the Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) class and four in the Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) class will move to the Canada Northern Hard

Organization in Canada, China, sign memorandum

Canola Council of Canada touts benefits of canola oil and meal during trade mission to China

The Canola Council of Canada is celebrating a new memorandum of understanding after wrapping up a trade mission to China. Speaking from Beijing, canola council president Jim Everson emphasized the importance of the Chinese market for Canadian canola producers and processors. “We are just at the end of what we think is a very successful