Workers transport imported soybeans at a port in Nantong, Jiangsu province, China April 4, 2018. U.S. farmers worry they’ll be shut out of a major market due to a brewing trade war.

China tariffs on soy, sorghum spread fear in U.S. farm country

Farmers say a list of crops facing tariffs has them rattled and worried for their future

China aimed a direct strike at America’s heartland on April 4, moving to slap an aggressive 25 per cent retaliatory tariff against U.S. soybeans, farm country’s most valuable export to China last year, worth US$12 billion. Over the past decade, fast-rising demand from China has fuelled a sharp rise in production of U.S. soybeans, which

bill uruski

Turkey producers still waiting on promised federal compensation

Trade deals ruffle the feathers of turkey producers who say government commitment falls short

Turkey producers are calling on the federal government to back up its stated support of supply management by putting money on the table. “It seems that with every trade deal our industry is undermined to a greater extent, regardless of the platitudes of support expressed by our government of the day,” said Bill Uruski, chairman


End of NAFTA wouldn’t be ‘end of world’: Mexican political adviser

A key adviser to a front-running leftist presidential candidate is touting other viable trade options for the nation

The collapse of NAFTA would not be a disaster for Mexico, the top foreign policy adviser to leftist presidential election front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, adding that Mexico should depend less on the United States and not interfere with regional neighbours. Veteran diplomat Hector Vasconcelos echoed Lopez Obrador’s position that Mexico should suspend talks



U.S. President Donald Trump celebrates after signing a pair of documents meant to promote rural internet access, after his remarks to the American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Nashville on Jan. 8. Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

Better trade deals coming for U.S. farmers, Trump says

In a 40-minute speech to the United States’ biggest farm organization, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about free trade for 49 seconds. In 120 words Trump told the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting Monday in Nashville he was working to get U.S. farmers better trade deals. “To level the playing field for our great

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


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

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