Reading Time: 2 minutes A new study by Cornell University agricultural economists says family members who work on the family dairy farm make $22,000 less annually than comparable hired managers, but are handsomely compensated with “socioemotional” wealth. “While $22,000 seems like a large penalty, there are non-financial rewards they experience working for the family business,” Loren Tauer, professor at […] Read more
Farm kids: Don’t worry about wages
Cattle herd still shrinking in StatsCan estimates
Reading Time: 2 minutes The size of Canada’s cattle herd is still in decline and almost a quarter smaller than its peak in 2005, Statistics Canada reports. The federal statistics agency on Thursday released estimates showing the herd at 13 million cattle on farms on July 1 this year, down 2.1 per cent from the same date in 2014. […] Read more
U.K. grocers Morrisons, Aldi give ground in milk dispute
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — British supermarkets Morrisons and Aldi responded on Friday to pressure from financially strapped dairy farmers by raising the price they pay milk suppliers. U.K. farmers have warned they face financial ruin, with falls in the price of milk forcing many out of work and spurring others to blockade distribution centres and […] Read more
U.K. farmers fear financial ruin from low milk prices
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — British farmers warned Monday they were facing financial ruin, with falls in the price of milk forcing many out of work and spurring others to blockade distribution centres and walk cows through supermarkets. Farming unions from across the country were meeting in London to urge the government to provide more help […] Read more
Dairy farmers milk politics of Pacific trade pact
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — New Zealand dairy farmers have a message for their Canadian counterparts, who worry a Pacific trade deal will throw them on the mercy of world markets and devastate their industry: It’s not so bad. But heavily protected Canadian farmers have reason for skepticism. A deadlock over dairy has emerged as one of the […] Read more
U.S. dairy group reaches milk price-fixing accord
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Dairy Farmers of America Inc. has agreed to pay US$50 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which farmers in the northeastern U.S. accused the marketing co-operative of conspiring to drive down milk prices. Settlement papers were filed on Thursday with the federal court in Burlington, Vermont, and require approval by U.S. District […] Read more
Japan wants N.Z. to make realistic offer on dairy goods
Reading Time: < 1 minute Tokyo | Reuters –– Japan wants New Zealand to offer realistic proposals on dairy products as part of 12-nation talks on a pan-Pacific trade agreement, a Japanese negotiator said Tuesday. Ministers failed last Friday to clinch a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal to free up trade after a dispute flared up over auto trade between Japan […] Read more
TPP talks fail to end in deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes "The U.S. was on one side of the issue, while practically every other country were on the other side."
TPP — NZ wants dairy concessions from the U.S.
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lahaina, Hawaii, July 28 (Reuters) – The United States, Canada and Japan have to make concessions on dairy trade before a wider Pacific trade deal can be wrapped up, New Zealand’s agricultural trade envoy said on Tuesday. Mike Petersen, a farmer who represents the interests of New Zealand agriculture, said the dairy part of the […] Read more
Canada will not negotiate TPP in public: Ritz
Canada also paying attention to U.S. subsidy programs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s agriculture minister says Canada won’t negotiate in public when it comes to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the proposed wide-ranging free trade agreement among a group of Pacific Rim countries. Responding to questions at an unrelated event in Winnipeg last week, Agriculture and Agri-food Minister Gerry Ritz said Canada has put forward strong proposals […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
