Reading Time: 2 minutes Calgary | Reuters — Canada has a “very special status” and is unlikely to be hit hard by changes the U.S. wants to make to the NAFTA trade accord, the head of a business advisory council to U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday. Stephen Schwarzman made his remarks after addressing Canadian Prime Minister Justin […] Read more

Canada not seen as U.S. target in NAFTA talks

U.S. grain exports slide after Trump win batters peso
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Mexican demand for U.S. grain imports has slumped along with the country’s sinking peso as buyers withdrew from the market amid soaring costs in the week since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, traders and industry analysts said. Corn prices in pesos jumped more than 10 per cent overnight for […] Read more

Bovine TB strain of Mexican origin in Alberta probe
Reading Time: 2 minutes While new to Canada, the strain of tuberculosis bacteria which infected the Alberta cow at the centre of a bovine TB probe has been seen before in Mexico. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Wednesday reported the strain of Mycobacterium bovis found in a southeastern Alberta cow is “closely related” to a strain originating from […] Read more

Mexico reopens to all Canadian beef
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beef and beef products from Canadian cattle of all ages may again be shipped to Mexico under newly expanded access announced Friday. The announcement from Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay, on his first official visit to Mexico, follows up on a joint statement in June that Mexico was in the “final stages of due diligence” to reopen […] Read more

Russia muscling into rivals’ wheat markets
Reading Time: 3 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russia is muscling in on the markets of its European and North American competitors as it overtakes the European Union to become the world’s biggest wheat exporter for the first time. Russia is expecting a record crop in the 2016-17 marketing season, which began on July 1, while EU harvests are […] Read more

Canadian beef follows tricky paths to international markets
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Canadian beef continues to find its way to markets around the world, but while a new deal with Mexico has brought smiles to the cattle industry, questions remain surrounding Canada’s proposed trade deal with the European Union. Britain’s recent referendum to exit the European Union has thrown into question whether the Comprehensive […] Read more

Mexico to accept OTM Canadian beef this fall
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico will resume “fully normalized” trade in beef products with Canada starting Oct. 1, accepting imports of Canadian beef from cattle over 30 months old (OTMs). The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Canadian Meat Council announced the move in separate releases Tuesday, following a joint statement by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Prime Minister Justin […] Read more
Mexico clears Canadian poultry meat for import
Reading Time: < 1 minute Duck and other poultry from Canada may again be exported to Mexico, for the first time since 2004. Canada’s Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland on Thursday announced Mexico had reopened its border to fresh poultry meat including chicken, turkey and, “most significant in terms of historical trade,” duck. Mexico had […] Read more

Mexico halts bid for COOL retaliation
Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico has halted a bid to impose retaliatory trade measures on the U.S. over meat labeling rules after U.S. lawmakers repealed them this week, a Mexican government official said. Mexico had announced earlier this month it would start internal procedures to strip benefits from some U.S. agricultural and industrial imports, […] Read more

University sets its sights on fusarium
This major U of M lab program hopes to stop fusarium before it starts
Reading Time: 4 minutes Protecting crops from the ravages of fusarium is a never-ending job for investigators like Dr. Dilantha Fernando and his staff at the University of Manitoba. The most common species of the pathogen is fusarium graminearum, commonly known as fusarium head blight (FHB) or fusarium scab. It’s a cereal crop pathogen that has become the most […] Read more