So, what now? With the U.S. midterm elections done, we have more certainty about who has the power and influence in Washington for the next two years. Unfortunately, that doesn’t provide a lot of certainty for trade. Will the U.S. approve NAFTA2? Will the U.S. attempt to get back into the new Trans-Pacific Partnership? Most […] Read more
Author Archives
Vegetarian wave may be opportunity for meat sector
More and more young people are banishing meat from their diets. One-third of Canadians are thinking about cutting back on their meat consumption in the next six months. And lots of baby boomers are becoming “flexitarians,” who don’t eat meat on weekdays but fire up the grill on the weekends. It looks like a dire […] Read more
Trade mission to China reflects new optimism
Three federal cabinet ministers will visit China this week as Canada focuses its trade gaze on the Asian country
Snow was falling and servers were shivering, but the mood was warm and sunny as leaders of Canada and Manitoba’s farming industries mingled with government representatives to celebrate agricultural trade. It was easy to understand why they were so happy. A few months earlier, the North American Free Trade Agreement was in doubt, the Comprehensive […] Read more
Social media provides perfect showcase for farming
This is the first in a series of AgriCulture columns about farmers who use Instagram. When Toban Dyck took off for downtown Toronto in the late 2000s, he didn’t glance back at the southern Manitoba farm he was leaving behind. Now he can’t keep his eyes and cameras off of it. “When I moved away […] Read more
Cereal makers not giving up on breakfast food
Cereals continue to suck the wind from the sails of breakfast food makers’ stocks, but one is doubling down on the category to try to reverse the slumping demand. “We could have lifted our foot off the gas pedal on our expansion of single-serve on-the-go items … but we chose not to do so,” Kellogg […] Read more
Meat losing out to plant protein
There’s bad news for livestock producers but good news for plant protein providers in a new joint study from Dalhousie and Guelph universities. Not only are growing numbers of young people eschewing and resisting meat consumption, but many aging baby boomers are avoiding meat most days. “It really points to a challenge the sector has,” […] Read more
Foodgrains bank declared an impact charity
Charity Intelligence included Canadian Foodgrains Bank on its top 10 list of charities that make the most of their money
Money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank goes a long way and gets to the people it’s intended to help. That’s the conclusion of an independent charity watchdog that has placed the CFGB on its annual list of the Top Ten Impact Charities. It was happy news for the farmer-supported, church-based charity. “It’s such a […] Read more
Farmers can learn lessons from 2008 financial crisis
This is the final column in a series about lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis. They say never let a crisis go to waste, and I hope farmers used the 2008-09 financial crisis to boost their understanding of the various types of risk they face. That’s why I started this series, which I’m concluding […] Read more
Farm groups breathe sigh of relief now that Pacific deal is ratified
Relief spread fast through Canadian farming’s export sectors late last week as news broke that Parliament had ratified the Asia Pacific trade deal and it had received royal assent. It makes Canada the fifth country to officially join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is a free trade deal involving 11 nations. […] Read more
Interest rates haunt farmers
For years financial advisers, analysts and economists warned farmers to prepare themselves for higher interest rates. And for years, more than a decade now, they have faced skepticism from many when their caution did not seemed to be borne out by the ultra-low interest rate environment that followed the 2008-09 financial crisis. “You tell me […] Read more
