(Ville.montreal.qc.ca)

Canada talks tough on trade as NAFTA talks’ endgame nears

Reading Time: 3 minutes London, Ont. | Reuters — Canada is talking tough with the U.S., stressing its determination to push back against what it says are unfair trade practices ahead of crucial talks to revamp the tri-nation North American Free Trade Agreement. U.S., Canadian and Mexican officials meet this month for the sixth and penultimate round of talks […] Read more

A giant Mexican flag at Cozumel’s Puerta Maya. (CIA.gov)

Mexico will leave NAFTA talks if Trump triggers process to withdraw

Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico will leave the NAFTA negotiating table if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to trigger a six-month process to withdraw from the trade pact, three Mexican sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters on Wednesday. Reuters reported earlier in the day that Canada was increasingly convinced that Trump would […] Read more


(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: NAFTA worries drag CME hogs from one-year high

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs on Wednesday slid from a one-year top earlier in the session, rattled by fund selling and Canadian government concerns over NAFTA talks with the U.S., said traders. Canada is increasingly convinced that President Donald Trump will soon announce the U.S. intends to pull out of the […] Read more

U.S. President Donald Trump celebrates after signing a pair of documents meant to promote rural internet access, after his remarks to the American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Nashville on Jan. 8. Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

Better trade deals coming for U.S. farmers, Trump says

Reading Time: 4 minutes In a 40-minute speech to the United States’ biggest farm organization, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about free trade for 49 seconds. In 120 words Trump told the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting Monday in Nashville he was working to get U.S. farmers better trade deals. “To level the playing field for our great […] Read more


The Big River Resources ethanol plant at West Burlington, Iowa, about 120 km southwest of Davenport. (Steven Vaughn photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. Midwest lawmakers will consider biofuel changes

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers from states that produce corn for ethanol plants said on Wednesday they would consider proposals from Senator Ted Cruz of Texas to help the oil refining industry cope with the nation’s biofuels regulation, but would never agree on anything that diminishes the program. The price of U.S. renewable […] Read more

U.S. President Donald Trump (r) and Vice-President Mike Pence meet with Congressional leadership Dec. 7 in Washington. (Video screengrab from WhiteHouse.gov)

Trump open to biofuel policy reform, senators say

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump is open to reforming the country’s biofuels policy if it can be done in a way that protects jobs in both the refining and agriculture industries, senators said on Thursday after a meeting with Trump on the issue. Nine lawmakers had requested the meeting to argue that […] Read more



(Video screengrab from CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Trade talks a dicey situation, Coyne says

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | CNS Canada — With Canada in the midst of negotiations for two different trade agreements, the North American Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership, trade concerns are getting muddled, according to Andrew Coyne. “We need to be conscious of diversifying our trade interests beyond just North America. It would be extremely foolish that […] Read more



Leah Olson is president of the Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada, which represents many Canadian-based ag equipment brands.

Short-liners get aggressive

We sit down with Leah Olson, president of Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada, to take the pulse of today’s Canadian short-line equipment manufacturers

Reading Time: 5 minutes In past years, as the calendar began leading up to summer, my email inbox would fill with press releases from short-line ag equipment manufacturers hungry to show off their their new models and boost sales. This year, however, was quiet. There just weren’t as many announcements as I’d come to expect. Yes, there have been […] Read more