Reading Time: 2 minutes New Delhi | Reuters — Caravans of tractors clogged a key highway in northern India on Monday as tens of thousands of farmers protesting against agriculture reforms streamed into the capital ahead of Republic Day, and police said they were prepared to deal with the crowds. India marks its founding as a republic on Tuesday […] Read more

Indian farmers ride caravan of tractors into capitol ahead of Republic Day
Farmers reject government's offer to suspend ag market reforms

Investor nominates directors for Corteva, aims to oust CEO
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Activist investor Starboard Value LP said on Thursday it has nominated eight directors to the board of Corteva, seeking to oust its chief executive officer and take control of the pesticide and seed maker. Starboard, in its letter to Corteva’s chairman, said it had identified someone new for the top job, but declined […] Read more

Facing green push on farm, fertilizer makers look to sea for growth
Reading Time: 4 minutes Winnipeg/Oslo | Reuters — Two of the world’s biggest fertilizer producers, CF Industries and Yara International, are seeking to cash in on the green energy transition by reconfiguring ammonia plants in the U.S. and Norway to produce clean energy to power ships. The consumption of oil for transportation is one of the top contributors to […] Read more

India offers to suspend farm reforms
Farmers may call off protests
Reading Time: < 1 minute New Delhi | Reuters — India’s government on Wednesday offered to suspend implementation of three new farm laws that have triggered the biggest farmers’ protests in years, which farm union leaders said they would now consider calling off. The cornerstone of the reform, introduced in September, allows private buyers to deal directly with farmers. Angry […] Read more

U.K. to ask to join Trans-Pacific trading bloc ‘shortly’
Bilateral deals signed or in works with several CPTPP members
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — Britain will soon submit its application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade bloc, trade minister Liz Truss said on Wednesday. Since deciding to leave the European Union, a process it completed at the end of 2020, Britain has been seeking out new trading arrangements around […] Read more

Provinces’ feet held to fire on AgriStability
Ministers' meeting co-chairs push for progress to allow changes to be made retroactive for 2020
Reading Time: 3 minutes The co-chairs of Canada’s agriculture ministers’ meeting are pushing to get proposed improvements to AgriStability in place sooner than later. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her Ontario counterpart, Ernie Hardeman, “urge all provincial and territorial ministers to support the proposed changes to the AgriStability program,” they said in a joint statement Tuesday. At a […] Read more

Canada consulting at home toward Indonesia trade deal
Possibility of broader Southeast Asian pact also looms
Reading Time: 3 minutes Continuing to seek out free trade deals in the Asia-Pacific region, Canada has launched public consultations on the merits of a potential bilateral pact with Indonesia. “Deepening trade ties with Indonesia would benefit Canadian businesses of all sizes and lead to economic growth and prosperity for years to come,” International Trade Minister Mary Ng said […] Read more

Manitoba to consolidate and shut agriculture, MASC offices
Province announces 'new rural service delivery model'
Reading Time: 3 minutes Updated, Jan. 7 — Manitoba’s agriculture and resource development department and crop insurance and ag lending agency will close their offices in 21 communities and consolidate others this spring, in a bid to reduce their “physical footprint.” Agriculture Minister Blaine Pedersen on Wednesday announced what the province billed as “a new rural service delivery model […] Read more

Ontario extends lost-labour production insurance
COVID-related coverage held over for 2021 program year
Reading Time: 2 minutes A temporary expansion of Ontario’s AgriInsurance program, to cover losses caused by COVID-19-related short-handedness on the farm, will be held over. The province and federal government on Dec. 22 announced the expansion of coverage will be extended to cover the 2021 program year — and that it will insure production of “additional commodities.” Further details […] Read more

Next level farm management
Business planning practices are driving success on these three farms
Reading Time: 8 minutes There are two halves to farming — production and business. They are correlated, of course. You can’t really succeed in one if you aren’t also up to scratch at the other. That said, we’ve always known that every farmer brings their own mix of management skills and energies to the table, which means every operation […] Read more