TORONTO – Negotiator Gilles Gauthier has bad news for Canadian farmers and politicians who believe World Trade Organization proposals go too far in undermining supply management and the Canadian Wheat Board – it is only going to get worse.Gauthier told a May 15 workshop organized by the Canadian Agricultural Trade Policy and Competitiveness Research Network […] Read more
News
Canada may face tough opposition as talks drag
Youth see challenges over policy
When young producers join the New Brunswick Young Farmers’ Forum, they are taught about how farmer organizations operate and the mature farmers who control them.Cedric MacLeod, general manager of the farmers’ forum, told MPs on the House of Commons agriculture committee May 11 that farm groups and boards are dominated by older farmers who sometimes […] Read more
Lagging on climate change initiatives could be costly: expert
TORONTO – Canadian exporters are not being paranoid when they worry that the international response to climate change may bring in a new era of protectionism, says a conservative American trade researcher.Agriculture likely would be affected, added Sallie James, an analyst with the Washington-based Cato Institute.She told a May 15 workshop organized by the Canadian […] Read more
Provincial programs create friction
As MPs on the House of Commons agriculture committee travelled across the country studying young farmer issues, they heard criticism and envy from many about richer support programs in some provinces.Quebec’s insurance programs funded by producers and the provincial government were a prime target in Quebec City May 10.”The province of Quebec seems to be […] Read more
Western Producer Crop Report – for May. 20, 2010
Alberta South Cardston disaster areaCardston County has declared itself a disaster area because of late spring snowfall. Hundreds of calves died because of late spring storm. Dugouts and sloughs full. Potato and sugar beet seeding delayed by rain. Good grass growth in pastures. Central Warm, wet conditionsWarm weather giving farmers a psychological boost at seeding. […] Read more
Hog cash promise fails to excite
GLENLEA, Man. – Marg Rempel stood at the back of the hall feeling economically battered and bruised, but she tried to be hopeful about the future.“I still think farming is the most important vocation in the world and I stand by that,” said Rempel, a farrow-to-finish producer from Ste. Anne, Man., after listening to a […] Read more
Friends help finance dairy dream
The traditional lenders turned her down, so she found private “angels” to help finance her dream. Now in her fourth year of production, the 26-year-old has acquired quota for 33 kilograms of butterfat production.She and her husband still work off the farm to pay the bills, “but things are going well,” she told MPs on […] Read more
Letters to the editor – for May. 20, 2010
Gravel vs. water The Western Producer could well print more articles along the lines of Joe Obad’s April 15 article on watershed protection and Brenda Kossowan’s April 22 article on gravel pits threatening water resources.All life, and certainly agriculture, depends on water, which is being wasted and polluted at alarming rates.Gravel mining has already caused […] Read more
Election rule changes proposed
Ottawa has proposed changes to the Canadian Wheat Board Act that would set a production threshold for eligibility to vote in CWB elections and eliminate tens of thousands of voters. The government has the support of the CWB board of directors for the change, although the lobby group called Friends of the CWB denounced it […] Read more
Scientists seek answers to better bird
Most Canadians don’t spend much time thinking about turkeys.When they do – typically at Christmas and Thanksgiving – their most probing questions revolve around taste: will that be light meat or dark meat? Stuffing or no stuffing? With cranberry sauce or without?When University of Saskatchewan researchers Hank Classen and Trever Crowe talk turkey, however, their […] Read more
