U.S. Senate building

Comment: September slips away — and so do political solutions

The clock is ticking on several U.S. policy decisions that could have global implications

There are never enough days in September for farmers, ranchers, and pennant-chasing baseball teams. Every day, whether spent in a combine, pasture or batter’s box, brings change to what’s real today and what’s possible tomorrow. And it happens fast; September days don’t pass, they evaporate. The U.S. Congress, however, seems not to notice days, months

egg flats

Trade talks set to divide farm communities

Some groups want a trade deal even if it means sacrificing supply management

High-level negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) scheduled for Guam this month have opened a rift in Canada’s farm community that successive governments have tried to prevent. Livestock and grain groups have gone public with a demand the federal government fully engage in the talks and, while they don’t actually say it, essentially be prepared



Impact of climate change hitting home, U.S. report finds

Reuters / The consequences of climate change are now hitting the United States on several fronts, including health, infrastructure, water supply, agriculture and especially more frequent severe weather, a congressionally mandated study has concluded. A draft of the U.S. National Climate Assessment, released Jan. 11, said observable change to the climate in the past half-century


U.S. fiscal plan averts steep rise in milk prices

Adeal approved by the U.S. Congress late New Year’s Day to avoid the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff” also includes measures to avert the “dairy cliff” — a steep increase in milk prices. The tax agreement contains a nine-month fix for expiring farm subsidy programs by extending a 2008

U.S. Farm Bill could be delayed until April 2013

Reuters / The U.S. Congress could delay passage of a new five-year Farm Bill until spring planting given the full plate of legislation needed after the election to avoid a fiscal cliff with its mandatory U.S. budget cuts, a top farm policy expert said Nov. 5. “My prediction is that we will get a Farm


Flood or drought: Which should we expect?

Recent rains have been more than welcome here in the Red River basin after a summer of drought-like conditions in much of the basin and surrounding region. Given the large floods of 1997, 2010, 2011 — and smaller floods in between — you would never have thought we would be looking so anxiously to the

U.S. futures regulator targets commodity speculation

washington / chicago / reuters The top U.S. futures regulator says he would support appealing a court ruling last month that struck down his agency’s attempt to place limits on speculation in commodity markets. Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said his agency drafted the original rule at the direction of


Supply management is in trouble

Good news. Canada is joining talks for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will open lucrative new trade opportunities — if we give up supply management. Or so you’d think by reading national newspapers these days. Ever since Canadian participation in the TPP talks was announced last month, columnists in the Globe and Mail and National Post

Canada’s grain freight regulations inhibit productivity

The cost of railway infrastructure projects, such as the Rogers Pass tunnel or network acquisition, is staggering. In contrast, rail’s air, trucking and marine competitors have an advantage from the outset in not having to build or maintain infrastructure. And while rail can withstand underinvestment for years, eventually a lack of capital catches up and