Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under fire for the deteriorating Canada-China relationship, but his misstep may have been to be too accommodating to the Asian superpower. The Canada-U.S. relationship hit a low when President Donald Trump imposed U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel due to “national security concerns,” forced Canada into impromptu and brutal negotiations for […] Read more
Tag Archives Blog
Answers to farming challenges not as easy as outsiders assume
Whether it's dealing with China or soil, farmers have to manage in the real world
Uh-oh! China shut the border to Canadian canola. What should a farmer do? Easy! Just don’t grow canola this year. That’s what some people who don’t know much about real-world farming might think, after hearing that a third Canadian canola exporter has been told their license to ship to China has been yanked. How should […] Read more
China drops the other shoe – on Canadian canola
Not much for Canada to do but carry on building new markets
It looks like China has dropped the other shoe, after first treading into the trade war area three weeks ago. China stops buying Canadian canola. It’s no longer just Richardson International that’s prevented from selling Canadian canola to China. While the Chinese customs authority does not appear to have explicitly banned Canada’s canola from being […] Read more
Canola industry hunkers down to hear if the next Chinese shoe drops
Canadian canola trade with China is not new to disruptions
This has happened before, and it will happen again. But the worrisome situation with Canadian canola exports to China might get worse before it gets better. That was the prevailing mood of exporters, canola industry leaders and farmer representatives at the Canadian Crops Convention in Montreal this week, as the industry grappled with news about […] Read more
Canola is big news – not in the way growers would hope
Canadian canola made it into the national news as the Canadian Crops Convention got underway in Montreal Tuesday, but it wasn’t for reasons anybody growing or selling Canadian canola would have wanted. News that China appears to have blocked canola imports from Richardson International sent tremors of anxiety through the farmers, processors, exporters and marketers […] Read more
BLOG: Major U.S. farm conference focuses on China
ORLANDO, Fla. — China is top-of-mind for all the farm groups attending the 2019 Commodity Classic. Davie Stephens, president of the American Soybean Association, said there is no question that the U.S. is going to suffer permanent losses in the Chinese market. He noted that the market wasn’t built overnight. It took decades to develop. […] Read more
BLOG: Getting into China’s favour is a long row to hoe
The Canada-China dispute is unfortunate, especially if you’re a Canadian farmer. When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government took power, strengthening the Chinese-Canadian trade relationship was a priority, demonstrated by many visits to China by high-level officials as well as multiple rounds of face to face free trade agreement exploratory discussions between the countries. In Canada, […] Read more
Is corporate consolidation condemning farmers to crippling servitude?
Agriculture has undergone an incredible consolidation of the companies that farmers rely upon. The global chemical/seed industry has collapsed into four giants; most meat industries are ruled by two or three packers, who often also play in the genetics, feed, production and management fields; Western Canada is utterly dependant upon two railways; two giant regional […] Read more
BLOG: Education not enough to encourage longer canola rotations
Last fall my eight-year-old daughter told me a story. It may be true, or partially true. We were walking to her school and she said the police were outside her school the day before. They entered a house across the road from the school, then brought out a man in handcuffs. Based on playground gossip, […] Read more
Canada torn between two trade bullies with the U.S. and China
Best approach: stay standing and don't cry
Canada is torn between two bullies, feeling like a fool. Dealing with both of them is breaking all our hopes. With our belligerent erstwhile friend to the south having recently finished savaging us in the NAFTA2 negotiations, and China presently raging at us and locking up unlucky Canadians, it’s a very, very, very uncomfortable time […] Read more
