CNS Canada — Record-setting rain and floods in North Carolina caused by Hurricane Florence have destroyed the state’s poultry sector with 3.4 million chickens and turkeys reported killed. Pig losses are estimated at 5,500. Widespread power outages and flooded roads are making it difficult to get help to abandoned livestock operations. The state is home […] Read more
World crop briefs: North Carolina losing crops, livestock to Florence
Canada’s ag output seen likely rising under climate change
CNS Canada — A new United Nations report suggests just how climate change will reshape agriculture by 2050 — and that Canada’s production capacity stands to benefit. International trade will play an ever-larger role in helping to feed people in food-deficient regions, as warmer temperatures and less precipitation will damage yields in many tropical areas, […] Read more
Trump to slap more tariffs on Chinese goods
Washington | Reuters | Updated Sept. 18, 2018 — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he will impose 10 per cent U.S. tariffs on about US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports, but he spared smart watches from Apple and Fitbit and other consumer products such as bicycle helmets and baby car seats. Trump, in […] Read more
Big Weed hits up Europe hoping for expansion cash
Toronto/London | Reuters — A favorite of DIY stock pickers, Canadian cannabis firms are trying to bolster their institutional investor base by ramping up efforts to woo European funds as countries across the region approve marijuana for medical use. For some time companies including Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis and Tilray Inc. have been signing export […] Read more
Britain outlines post-Brexit farm policy in bill
London | Reuters –– Britain will introduce legislation on Wednesday for agricultural policy after it leaves the European Union that will link support for farmers to the provision of public benefits such as tackling climate change or preserving beautiful landscapes. The Agriculture Bill, primarily covering England, will provide the basis for policy in a sector […] Read more
No grain self-sufficiency in China without changes to land policies
Solution lies in both preserving and increasing the land under cultivation
If China is to achieve its target of 95 per cent grain self-sufficiency by 2030 it will need to restrict the conversion of arable land to other uses, say researchers from McGill. This may prove challenging in a country with a population of almost 1.4 billion, but with just under 13 per cent of arable […] Read more
Mapping moisture from space
Data collected by orbiting satellites can potentially inform field and farm policy decisions
Canadian research is measuring soil moisture content from space. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change are involved in two projects designed to measure soil moisture levels with orbiting satellites. Why it matters: Orbit-level analysis of soil moisture can affect farmers’ field level decisions and government policy decisions. One […] Read more
Dispute resolution in focus as NAFTA talks drag
Toronto/Washington | Reuters –– Canada and the United States ended talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Friday without reaching a deal. One longstanding issue is Chapter 19 of NAFTA, a dispute resolution mechanism that the United States significantly scaled back in a bilateral deal it reached with Mexico. What is […] Read more
U.S. maps out tariff-related direct payments to farmers
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday its farm aid package would include US$4.7 billion in direct payments to farmers to help offset losses from retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports this season. The bulk of the payments, $3.6 billion, would be made to soybean farmers (all figures US$). That amounts […] Read more
Film delves into urban-rural perspectives on food production
University student Dylan Sher spent time researching the origins of an entree served up in a popular Toronto restaurant
“My opinion is that the farmers don’t actually know the fight they’re in. They just know they’re in a fight.” That’s how soon-to-graduate University of Guelph ag business student Dylan Sher describes his goal in spending the past year writing and helping create the feature-length documentary film “Before the Plate,” which celebrated its premiere screening […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
