Glacier FarmMedia – The good news is that the Canadian dollar is likely to remain weak for the foreseeable future, according to most analysts. The bad news is that the weakness, which tends to boost Canadian agricultural values, might only exist compared to the American dollar, and that might not mean much. “Who am I […] Read more
Tag Archives economy
Weak loonie only gets Canadian farmers so far
Collapsing oil prices have weakened Canada’s currency, but only against the U.S. greenback, which dilutes the benefit
Editorial: Putting the emphasis on family generational wealth
I’ve heard many speakers on farm succession. Most of them have good messages; some of them are exceptionally good at creating enthusiasm, and some have useful stories that make you squirm because you can see yourself in them. None have them have quite put things like Tom Deans, the keynote speaker on Day 1 of […] Read more
American trade policy remaking world economy
Many parts of it will be detrimental to American trade over the long term, says former negotiator
There are several ways the United States is losing by focusing on a nationalist trade agenda and balancing trade in every way, says a former U.S. chief agriculture trade negotiator. Darci Vetter, who is now vice chair, Agriculture, Food and Trade with Edelman, told the recent Arrell Food Summit that that’s borne out in the […] Read more
Editorial: Watching for the next great leap in agriculture
Agriculture has been the productivity star of the Canadian economy for the past 50 years, says John Stackhouse of the Royal Bank. But he also says that predictable productivity improvement seen almost every year is flagging and he’s not sure why. He told the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s annual meeting that for agriculture to become […] Read more
Editorial: Exporting agriculture’s productivity miracle
Global productivity in agriculture production continues to grow healthily, but not yet fast enough to feed the expected 10 billion people on the planet by 2050. That’s according to the 2019 Global Agriculture Productivity (GAP) Report, recently released by Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The report says that agriculture productivity is increasing […] Read more
International trade disputes a threat to global economy
Numerous trade disputes have broken out around the world, causing uncertainty
Glacier FarmMedia – Hearing all the grim talk about slowing global growth and seeing alarming signs from the bond market, it’s understandable that many believe the world is fated to fall into recession soon, acknowledges the chief economist of National Bank of Canada. But unless some wild cards get played, the actual chances of a […] Read more
Election 2019: Ag groups want the parties to pay attention
MarketsFarm — Two major national farm organizations want the political parties to pay more attention to agriculture as the federal election continues. However, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) have somewhat different takes as to what they see as paramount. “It’s really important that we uphold the quality of […] Read more
An economic reality check for Canada’s farm sector
Chaotic trade and financial environments dominate first half of 2019
Many analysts predicted market uncertainty for 2019 and so far, those predictions have come true. With trade wars, mixed-result political dealings, and an overall unstable global economy, the situation for Canadian farmers continues to be concerning – though not inherently dire. Why it matters: Uncertainty about markets, politics and the global economy are causing anxiety […] Read more
Trump threatens new tariffs as U.S.-China trade tensions spike again
Washington | Reuters – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to impose a 10 percent tariff on a remaining $300 billion list of Chinese imports starting Sept. 1, after U.S. and Chinese negotiators failed to kickstart trade talks between the world’s two largest economies. The levies – which would hit a wide swath of […] Read more
Finding investors for agriculture technology
Agriculture hasn’t attracted the venture capital in Canada to help move local companies to global status, but that could be changing
There’s been a lack of investors willing to be patient with agriculture technology companies. Malcolm Campbell, vice president of research at the University of Guelph says that’s true especially around the early development stage. University of Guelph’s Gryphon’s LAAIR program helps researchers get to the start-up stage, but he says it could use 10 times […] Read more
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