Although public and private marketing campaigns aimed at bridging the gap between farmers and consumers are making real strides, two studies conducted in 2014 point out just how far apart the two groups are in their attitudes to modern agriculture and food production. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) commissioned a $100,000 qualitative research study from[...]
Initial drought list ready for 2022 livestock tax deferrals
Many of the Prairie livestock producers forced by drought to make "difficult herd management decisions" in the 2022 income tax year are now eligible to defer the taxable income from those decisions. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Tuesday released the initial list of designated regions in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan where livestock tax deferral[...]
U.S. requests CUSMA dispute panel on Canadian dairy quotas
Washington | Reuters -- The Biden administration on Tuesday escalated a simmering trade dispute with Canada over dairy import quotas, requesting that the first dispute settlement panel under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement be formed to review the matter. The U.S. Trade Representative's office said its complaint alleges that Canada was improperly allocating CUSMA tariff-rate import quotas[...]
Saskatchewan, B.C. areas up for livestock tax deferrals
Livestock producers in several more parched municipalities in Saskatchewan and British Columbia will be able to defer income from sales of animals on their 2017 tax returns. The federal government on Tuesday announced its final list of designated regions for 2017, including 20 more municipalities in Saskatchewan and seven in British Columbia. The initial list,[...]
Australian bidders gatecrash deal for country's biggest landholding
Sydney | Reuters -- Four of Australia's wealthiest outback cattle families plan to make the first entirely domestic offer to buy S.Kidman and Co, the country's largest private landholding, paying more than a rival bid of A$365 million (C$370.1 million), two of the quartet said. Kidman has already accepted a joint offer by Australia's richest[...]
U.S. asked to seize Bundy cattle to protect tortoises
Reuters -- Environmental groups have asked the U.S. government to seize hundreds of jailed militant rancher Cliven Bundy's cattle, saying unregulated grazing of his herd on public lands in Nevada threatens habitat for federally protected desert tortoises. The request from nine organizations in a letter sent on Monday to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management[...]
New 'superbug' gene found in animals, people in China
London | Reuters -- A new gene that makes bacteria highly resistant to a last-resort class of antibiotics has been found in people and pigs in China -- including in samples of bacteria with epidemic potential, researchers said Wednesday. The discovery was described as "alarming" by scientists, who called for urgent restrictions on the use[...]
Minnesota declares state of emergency over avian flu
Chicago | Reuters -- Minnesota declared a state of emergency on Thursday over a fast-spreading strain of avian flu that has led to the extermination of more than 7.3 million birds in the country. It followed Wisconsin's action on Monday. The highly pathogenic H5N2 strain of bird flu has been identified on 46 Minnesota farms[...]
Iowa reports biggest single U.S. outbreak of bird flu
Chicago | Reuters -- Iowa, the top U.S. egg-producing state, found a lethal strain of bird flu in millions of hens at an egg-laying facility on Monday, the worst case so far in a national outbreak that prompted Wisconsin to declare a state of emergency. The infected Iowa birds were being raised near the city[...]
U.S. could use vaccines being developed to fight bird flu in poultry
Chicago | Reuters -- Faced with a deadly bird flu outbreak that has infected millions of chickens and turkeys, the U.S. Agriculture Department could turn to what it has always seen as a last resort: readying and deploying a vaccine to fight the disease. Up to now, USDA has said it would prefer not to[...]
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
