Reading Time: 3 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Canada and Mexico will rebuff the United States over its demand for tougher NAFTA automotive content rules, top officials said on Monday as negotiations to renew the treaty bogged down with only a few months to go. U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to quit NAFTA, which has reshaped the […] Read more
Canada, Mexico to rebuff U.S. over NAFTA goals
Farmer-made hay dryer boosts quality
Chinook bale dryer uses spikes to dry bales from the inside out
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chris Martin saw how hay bale dryers were working in Quebec and thought that the concept would work on his farm in Ontario. And he figured he and his brother could make one that worked even better. Three years later, they have their dryer working – but not perfected – and have sold one other […] Read more
Big trends drive diverging high and low income food interests
Panel discussed the future of food and the widening disconnect between growers and consumers
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are larger issues driving food trends that should give farmers opportunities to open conversations with people in the food movement. The challenge is starting that conversation. Jayson Lusk, the head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, told the George Morris AgriFood Policy Lecture on the future of food that influencers are […] Read more
Competing with Russian wheat
Newer wheat classes provide an opportunity to serve Mexican markets that don’t need CWRS
Reading Time: 3 minutes Western Canadian wheat classes such as Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) and the new Canada Northern Hard Red (CNHR) have recently been attracting attention from Mexican millers to meet their end-uses. Senior managers from Grupo Trimex, Mexico’s largest milling company and a customer of CWRS, attended a one-week technical exchange at the Canadian International Grains […] Read more
U.S. women own it
When we think ‘farmer,’ we often also think ‘male.’ Because it’s men who own the farmland, right?
Reading Time: 5 minutes The truth of farmland ownership is changing, especially the picture of who owns farmland in the United States, where the numbers are a bit clearer than here in Canada, and where the shift has been underway for decades. The questions are simple enough: How many women own farmland in the U.S.? What are the parameters […] Read more
Flax opportunities
Agronomics and yield are the big priorities for flax growers in Western Canada
Reading Time: 9 minutes Flax acres have started to rebound over the past few years, with Saskatchewan still accounting for most of the flax grown on the Prairies. In order to entice more growers to flax, however, yields will need to increase. Average flax yields have hovered around 22 bu./ac. for many years, and although growers in some areas […] Read more
U.S. stance on autos sows more doubt about NAFTA overhaul
Reading Time: 3 minutes Arlington, Va. | Reuters — The Trump administration on Friday demanded that U.S.-made content account for half the value of the cars and trucks sold under the North American Free Trade Agreement, raising further doubts about any potential deal to renew the pact. Three sources briefed on the protectionist U.S. proposal, which is in line […] Read more
EU, Canada settle cattle battle at the WTO
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva | Reuters — The European Union and Canada have ended a 21-year dispute over hormone-treated meat after agreeing a wider trade agreement, they said in a filing published by the World Trade Organization on Tuesday. The settlement of the dispute at the WTO, which began in 1996, was facilitated by a liberalization of trade […] Read more
The case for managing magnesium
Like sulphur, Mg is moving into the foreground
Reading Time: 4 minutes No one is taking anything away from “The Big Three.” Clearly, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N, P and K) have a direct and powerful influence on yield, and must be managed with great skill. Increasingly, though, we’re learning that secondary nutrients and micronutrients are also worth paying attention to. In 2016, for instance, agronomists began […] Read more
Winning at the border
It may be Donald Trump who is re-opening NAFTA. But today, more farmers north of the border are seeing some solid wins for Canada
Reading Time: 8 minutes Ron Davidson calls in from a hotel room in Washington, D.C., with NAFTA on his mind. As senior vice-president of international trade and public affairs for the Canadian Meat Council, he’s no stranger to the U.S. capital. And with the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement in process, there are more cross-border trips […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
