We’re reduced to this: arguing about whether or not Adele should have worn a Jamaican-themed outfit to a London Caribbean festival and getting worked up about some young radicals in Montreal pulling down and beheading a much-ignored statue of John A Macdonald. This is a good way for Silly Season to depart. (Silly Season is […] Read more
Tag Archives Blog
The challenge to Freeland: Don’t let the Green agenda kill the Growth agenda
Farming and other growth industries don't need to clash with a "Green" agenda, but they might if the new finance minister doesn't handle things right
Prairie farmers should be happy to see Chrystia Freeland become the federal finance minister. She’s a champion of free trade and expanded global trade; she has great financial understanding; she’s tough as nails; she has deep western roots. But she’s being brought in to Finance in the midst of loud talk about Prime Minister Justin […] Read more
It’s like the pandemic never happened, at least for canola and the loonie
If I remember right, six months back a pandemic hit us like a tumbling asteroid. Flames, smoke and a succession of massive shockwaves hit the world’s economies and societies as our hopes and sense of security were blotted out by heavens of blackness and acid rain. But here we are today, at least in much […] Read more
Canada’s family hog farmers need help immediately, says CPC
Waiting months will see many leave the industry
Canada’s independent hog farmers are being crushed by a pricing system that short-changes them on pigs but pays processors and grocers top-dollar at the same time. If it isn’t fixed soon, many of the remaining family hog farms will disappear, says the Canadian Pork Council. “Something’s gotta give here, otherwise guys are going to be […] Read more
Farmers deserve to have government-imposed costs connected to international prices
Why are some production costs treated like a domestic issue when prices are set in the world market?
A commodity price can be an honest, pure and shockingly efficient signal. Through that one number, posted and based-off around the international marketplace, farmers, marketers, shippers and processors can figure out whether they can make money producing, procuring or selling something. A single price number can contain hundreds of variables, but they all add up […] Read more
Cowboys, masked men, risk and mitigation
Risk minimization appears to be a challenging concept
Why not go all-in on stocks right now? After all, we’ve had a three month rally going on. Sure, you can say markets go up and down, and there’s a lot of downside risk, but what if stocks only go up? As newborn day trader David Portnoy told Fox Business about market bears and the […] Read more
Will the COVID crisis cause a food revolution?
Innovative technologies are waiting on the shelf, but will they finally be embraced?
There’s been lots of blather about exciting food and agriculture industry technological innovations. “Smart” everything has been talked about for more than a decade. My newspaper has published dozens of stories about the possibilities of blockchain. The “internet of things” is a term buzzing away at every farm and ag conference out there. But it’s […] Read more
Don’t take farming and food for granted says U of C report
Canadians and Canada’s governments shouldn’t take farming and food for granted. That’s the bottom line of a June 9 report from the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. “Food security in Canada is not something to be taken for granted and government policy action must reflect the essential service agriculture provides for our nation,” […] Read more
Let’s be hopeful, but not stupid, as COVID-19 wanes
There was shocking economic news today: U.S. non-farm payroll numbers increased by 2.5 million, rather than declining by expectations for more than seven million. Got that? The U.S. added jobs in May rather than continuing to fall into a hole dug by COVID-19. Is that number real? Is it a statistical aberration? Is it a […] Read more
Don’t expect too much, no matter what happens with Meng
Whatever happens Wednesday, China will not be a market we can count on again
Tomorrow (Wednesday) a B.C. Supreme Court judge will release the ruling on whether or not to uphold the validity of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou’s arrest and detention on a U.S. extradition request. A lot of people are hoping Meng gets released, goes back to China, that China calms down, the two Michaels are released and […] Read more
