Reading Time: 2 minutes Just days after two senior cabinet ministers from the Prairies were defeated in Monday’s federal election, the Liberal government is now facing the possibility of a third stepping away from cabinet. International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr from Manitoba announced on Friday that he has been diagnosed with a type of blood cancer known as […] Read more
Key federal minister in Canada/China dispute fighting cancer
Is western separation a real possibility? The cost of Alberta secession
Why is it farmers will tour countless variety plots and study mounds of test data to find a one or two per cent yield advantage, yet are willing to bet the farm on key structural changes based on nothing more than political slogans?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Case in point: Once again western separation has become a hot topic. Many readers will argue this shouldn’t be taken seriously; it’s just coffee-shop talk. But is it? In February an Angus Reid Institute poll showed 50 per cent of Albertans would support secession from Canada. Since then Premier Jason Kenney on multiple occasions has […] Read more
Federal government funding $6 million to Canada Pork International
Reading Time: 2 minutes Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has announced $6 million will be invested in Canada Pork International (CPI) to focus on strengthening, diversifying and growing of Canada’s pork exports. It will help to boost the awareness of the industry in the priority international markets. Why it matters: A halt to exports to China has made finding other […] Read more
France’s Hulot calls on parliament to vote against EU-Canada trade deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters – Popular former environment minister Nicolas Hulot on Monday urged the French parliament to vote against the EU-Canada trade deal in a last-minute bid to block the agreement. The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) provisionally took effect from September 2017, but still needs to be approved by all 28 EU […] Read more
China trade
Will the friction between China and Donald Trump create real opportunities for Canadian soybean growers?
Reading Time: 7 minutes In today’s world, the news headlines that we read in the morning can be turned on their head that afternoon, which is why being able to differentiate what is really newsworthy from what’s just background noise is becoming a critical success factor for farmers. On the trade front, ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China […] Read more
The German question
Now that they’ve recovered from communism, these East German farms worry about the excesses of democracy
Reading Time: 9 minutes The fall of the iron curtain in l989 brought democracy to the former East Germany (DDR). For farmers like Bernd Klänhammer at Penkun, an hour and a half northeast of Berlin, it also brought, for the first time in their careers, the freedom to make their own decisions. Of course, Klänhammer wasn’t the only one […] Read more
Stalled farm bill could move fast after Democrat House win
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters – Congress may swiftly resolve a drawn-out impasse on the U.S. Farm Bill now that Democrats are poised to retake control of the legislative body, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee said on Wednesday. Collin Peterson, ranking member and presumptive new chair of committee, said passing the crucial agricultural legislation was going […] Read more
Trump’s trade war looms over divided U.S. farm belt ahead of vote
Reading Time: 4 minutes Reuters – Chuck Wirtz voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, inspired by the then-political outsider, but the veteran Iowa hog farmer now has buyer’s remorse as the U.S. Republican president’s trade policy exacts a heavy toll on his business. Wirtz, 56, estimates the tariffs resulting from the U.S. trade war with China and […] Read more
Trudeau vows to impose carbon tax, opponents push back
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he would fulfill a promise to impose a carbon tax on provinces unwilling to combat climate change, prompting instant protests from a voter-rich part of the country. Trudeau, whose ruling Liberals face an election in October 2019, told a news conference that all the money […] Read more
Tariff relief for Canada’s farmers at issue in Quebec election
Reading Time: 2 minutes Montreal |Reuters – Quebec farmers want further relief from a global tariff dispute ahead of Oct. 1 elections in the mostly French-speaking Canadian province, which has seen a recent rise in nationalist sentiment. Quebec’s ruling Liberals, centrists but separate from the federal Liberal party, launched their campaign on Thursday. They trail in polls behind the center-right Coalition Avenir Quebec […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
