Farmers’ shipping costs expected to increase but not significantly as rates return to normal after sinking to historic lows
Ocean freight rates are steadily increasing and there is no end in sight, according to a report by United States Wheat Associates. Rates for Panamax and Supramax vessels are double what they were a year ago as world economies recover from the COVID pandemic. “There are factors that suggest rates will remain higher for some […] Read moreTag Archives COVID-19 virus
Farm safety net overhaul unnecessary: report
Academics argue business risk management programs are working well and should not be reformed because of COVID-19
If farm groups are looking for arguments to back their calls for more pandemic-relief money and programs, they’d better not use a recent analysis by Alan Ker and Scott Biden of the University of Guelph. They conclude that business risk management programs did not fail during the pandemic’s first year, farmers overall did fine and […] Read more
Pandemic management has lessons for ag marketing
Sometimes risk analysis and risk management are literally life-and-death matters. That’s the situation with COVID-19 management. Public health officials are making decisions that help determine how many people get sick, die, lose jobs, fall behind in education, despair, go bankrupt, and a host of other impacts of the pandemic. For farmers, there is much to […] Read more
Canadians put on pounds during pandemic
Fifty-eight percent of the public acknowledged in an April survey that their weight has changed since COVID-19 began
COVID-wary Canadians have been making more trips to the refrigerator as they look for ways to cope with pandemic-induced stress, says a new report from the University of Dalhousie. According to a recent study conducted by Dalhousie’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab, 58 percent of Canadians who participated in an April 2021 survey acknowledged that their weight […] Read more
Ocean freight rates double in a year
Ocean freight rates are steadily increasing and there is no end in sight, according to a report by United States Wheat Associates. Rates for Panamax and Supramax vessels are double what they were a year ago as world economies recover from the COVID pandemic. “There are factors that suggest rates will remain higher for some […] Read more
MPs recommend more spending, less regulation to spur processing sector
A federal agricultural committee report is recommending more investment and less regulation to spur the Canadian processing sector. Between November 2020 and February 2021, the standing committee on agriculture and agri-food studied measures to increase Canada’s processing capacity, hearing from dozens of witnesses. The result is 18 recommendations largely focusing on financial investments and policy […] Read more
Pulse initiative aids Sask. food bank
Several Regina-based businesses have come together to provide more nutritious choices to food insecure families. Viterra, Canmar Food Products and Conexus Credit Union are collaborating on the Viterra Farmers Feeding Families initiative launched May 5. Viterra will spend $225,000 to buy pulses from Saskatchewan farmers. Canmar will then package the pulses into more than 200,000 […] Read more
Lagging cattle prices might improve as supply tightens
The lingering effects of the battle against COVID-19 have kept cattle prices lower than expected, given strong beef prices and demand. The Choice cutout 600-900 pounds in the United States in April has been running very strong for this time of the year and was at US$293.76 per hundredweight, about $70 higher than the five-year […] Read more
COVID-19 tests help discover pig-based flu viruses in Man.
Mass COVID-19 testing has caught two pig-based influenza variants in Manitobans. Provincial health and veterinary officials say there appears to be no risk to other humans, pigs don’t appear to have the disease and pork carries no risk of infection for humans. The cases were found in early April and there have been none since. […] Read more
COVID tests lead to discovery of pig-based flu viruses
Mass COVID-19 testing has caught two pig-based influenza variants in Manitobans. Provincial health and veterinary officials say there appears to be no risk to other humans, pigs don’t appear to have the disease and pork carries no risk of infection for humans. The cases were found in early April and there have been none since. […] Read more
