Latest Newsletter

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (left) tours ag retailer Blain’s Farm and Fleet with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in August 2017. (Paulryan.house.gov)

Ryan sets May 17 deadline for NAFTA deal

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Washington | Reuters — U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has set a May 17 deadline to be notified of a new NAFTA trade deal to give the current Congress a chance of passing it, while Mexico’s top trade official on Thursday said time was running short to meet such a deadline. Ryan, who controls legislation […] Read more
Averaged global sea surface temperature anomalies (in degrees Celsius) for the week centred on May 2, 2018. (NOAA Climate Prediction Center graphic)

El Nino pattern could emerge by 2018-19 winter

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Reuters — The El Nino weather pattern, associated with warmer and wetter weather than usual that may give rise to damaging conditions, could emerge by the 2018-19 Northern Hemisphere winter, with neutral conditions expected to prevail through November this year, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. The last El Nino, a warming of […] Read more
(Mark Wilson photo courtesy Louis Dreyfus Co.)
Crops, Markets

U.S.-China trade fears halt soybean imports

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Singapore/Beijing | Reuters — China’s purchases of U.S. soybeans have come to a grinding halt, trade and industry sources say, as fears of further action by Beijing to curb imports of U.S. crops following last week’s anti-dumping move on sorghum rattles the agriculture industry. Buyers from China, which takes 60 per cent of soybeans traded […] Read more
Silos and trees cast long shadows in fog at sunrise, scenic rural landscape, aerial view.
News

Biosecurity prompts concerns about municipal officer change

Across the province changes are allowing more municipal employees on properties to enforce standard bylaws

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Farmers in the Township of Perth East raised the alarm earlier this month about a move by municipalities across Ontario to make more specific the details about enforcing property standards bylaws. “Some of the stuff in these bylaws just doesn’t make sense,” said Perth County Federation of Agriculture (PCFA) President Bob Martin. “It’s a bylaw […] Read more
The J.C. Van Horne Bridge connecting Campbellton, N.B. and Pointe-a-la-Croix, Que. (Greenseas photo via iStock/Getty Images)
Markets

Supreme Court finds for provinces in ‘Free the beer’ case

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Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s top court on Thursday ruled against a New Brunswick man who had argued he had the constitutional right to buy beer more cheaply in a neighbouring province, saying that the law does not impose absolute free trade across the country. Dubbed the “free the beer” case in Canadian media, it […] Read more
Canadian drought conditions at March 31, 2018. (Drought Monitor map, Agr.gc.ca)

Prairie drought conditions improve

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CNS Canada — While drought conditions in Western Canada have improved following late-season snowfall, it isn’t a completely rosy picture just yet. “We have seen significant departures from normal in terms of precipitation (on the Prairies over) a long period. The winter hasn’t been above average (for precipitation) so there hasn’t been a whole lot […] Read more
Dairy farmer Lisa Dyck, shown here in 2013, launched Cornell Creme that year producing hand-crafted ice cream made from milk from the dairy farm she and her husband own between Beausejour and Anola. (Co-operator file photo by Lorraine Stevenson)
Livestock

Eastern Manitoba ice cream maker closes shop

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An eastern Manitoba dairy farmer who began producing a specialty ice cream with the farm’s own milk in 2013 has closed shop citing rising production costs. Lisa Dyck, owner of the Cornell Creme ice cream brand, began producing a line of hand-crafted ice cream in 2013, using milk from the family dairy farm northeast of […] Read more
(SecondCup.com)
Crops

Second Cup to set up cannabis lounges in West

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Updated, April 13 — Canada’s No. 2 specialty coffeehouse chain has a partnership deal in place to convert some of its outlets in Western Canada to recreational cannabis shops and lounges. Second Cup on Thursday announced a “strategic alliance” with National Access Cannabis Corp. (NAC) to roll out a network of NAC-branded recreational cannabis dispensaries, […] Read more
BASF’s dicamba production facility in Beaumont, Tex. (BASF.com)
Crops

Arkansas judge rules six farmers can spray dicamba

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Chicago | Reuters — An Arkansas judge has ruled that six farmers in the state this summer can spray a weed killer made by Monsanto and BASF that was blamed for hurting millions of acres of U.S. crops last year. The decision is the latest twist in the saga surrounding dicamba-based herbicides and immediately sparked […] Read more

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