Reading Time: 8 minutes The newest province of the Netherlands, Flevoland, is flatter than the Canadian Prairies. There isn’t a tree, building or windmill older than 40 years. And while in Canada our farmland was won from the bush, here in the Netherlands it’s wrung from the sea and called polders. Fabulously fertile, furiously high priced and fragile, this […] Read more
Land at $75,000 per acre
Balancing the need for high yields and sustainability — farming a Dutch polder
EU adopts post-Brexit import quotas for farm produce
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Union on Monday adopted quotas for farming produce it will accept from third countries after Britain leaves the bloc and acknowledged this could happen before it has concluded talks with them on the subject. The EU has in place a series of tariff rate quotas, allowing agricultural producers such […] Read more
EU trade chief says U.S. talks won’t include agriculture
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The European Union and United States have not yet agreed on the scope of trade negotiations, but the bloc will not include agriculture in the talks, its trade commissioner said on Wednesday. U.S. President Donald Trump has sought better terms of trade with the EU, as well as China, Japan, Canada […] Read more
USDA outlines first-ever rule for GMO labeling
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday laid out its first-ever requirements for labeling of genetically engineered, or GMO, foods as early as 2020, a rule met with praise from some farmers and criticism from consumer groups. Consumers have been pushing for years for greater transparency over what is in their […] Read more
U.S. House approves farm bill without tighter food stamps criteria
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S. House of Representatives passed the farm bill on Wednesday, capping months of acrimonious debate to finalize the legislation funding the nation’s US$867 billion food and agriculture programs. The bill, which passed by a vote of 369 to 47, will be submitted to President Donald Trump for his signature into […] Read more
Alberta cattle producers vote to keep refundable checkoff
Reading Time: 2 minutes Preliminary results in Alberta beef producers’ service charge plebiscite put a slim majority in favour of keeping their checkoff refundable. Out of 1,874 votes cast, 962 votes, or 51.3 per cent, fell in favour of a refundable service charge model, with 908 for a non-refundable model and four ballots spoiled, according to the preliminary figures […] Read more
Deere mega-dealership buys into Red Deer market
Reading Time: < 1 minute A central Alberta John Deere dealership which billed itself as “one of the few independently owned” dealers in the region is set to join Cervus Equipment. Calgary-based, publicly-traded Cervus announced Friday it will buy Red Deer-based Deermart Equipment Sales for an undisclosed sum. Deermart, owned by John Donald, Jack Donald and Abe Derksen since 1982, […] Read more
Walmart’s LatAm delivery app Cornershop eyes Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Cornershop, a Latin American grocery delivery app being acquired by Walmart, plans to expand into Canada early next year as a test market for the U.S., an executive for the three-year-old mobile app said. Walmart is buying Cornershop, which offers deliveries in Mexico and Chile, for US$225 million. The deal, […] Read more
New Brunswick ag, fisheries files remarried
Reading Time: < 1 minute New Brunswick’s incoming minority Progressive Conservative government will again have one minister handling the province’s agriculture and aquaculture files. Premier Blaine Higgs on Friday announced Gagetown-Petitcodiac MLA Ross Wetmore as his minister of agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries. Wetmore, 65, replaces Andrew Harvey and Benoit Bourque, who had handled the agriculture and fisheries portfolios respectively on […] Read more
Trade pact clause seen deterring China trade deals with Canada, Mexico
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters — China’s hopes of negotiating a free trade pact with Canada or Mexico were dealt a sharp setback by a provision deep in the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that aims to forbid such deals with “non-market” countries, trade experts said on Tuesday. The provision specifies that if one of the current North […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
