Green Party leader Elizabeth May walks off the set past moderator Paul Wells (l), Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh after the Maclean’s/Citytv leaders’ debate in Toronto on Sept. 12, 2019. (Pool photo: Frank Gunn via Reuters)

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

Food security is an issue in this election for 54 per cent of Canadians. (FatCamera/E+/Getty Images)

Food, farming not expected to be big election issues

Canadians don’t think that food and agriculture will be a significant issue in the current federal election. A survey conducted Sept. 9 and released Tuesday by Angus Reid Global with the support of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab shows 31 per cent of Canadians believe food and agriculture will be a prime electoral issue during […] Read more


(PaulCowan/iStock/Getty Images)

Worst-case no-deal Brexit plan warns of food shortages

London | Reuters — The British government’s plans for a no-deal Brexit warn of severe disruption to cross-Channel routes, affecting the supply of medicines and certain types of fresh foods, and say that protests and counter-protests will take place across the country, accompanied by a possible rise in public disorder. The “Operation Yellowhammer” worst-case assumptions […] Read more

Manitoba’s agriculture minister Ralph Eichler, shown here at an Aug. 27 pre-election forum hosted by the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association, easily held his riding of Lakeside in the Sept. 10 provincial election. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Geralyn Wichers)

Ag minister returned, ag critic downed in Manitoba vote

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives easily kept their agriculture minister while hanging onto a marginally slimmer majority government in Tuesday’s provincial election. Ralph Eichler, the Tories’ ag minister since 2016 and the MLA for the Interlake-area constituency of Lakeside since 2003, defeated New Democrat challenger Dan Rugg of Elie on Tuesday night by a spread of 4,340 […] Read more



Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau addresses the 2019 Dairy Farmers of Canada AGM in Saskatoon in July. (Photo courtesy AAFC)

Future payouts from dairy fund still up for discussion

What happens to the rest of Canada’s eight-year, $1.75 billion funding envelope to compensate its dairy farmers for other countries’ gains in market access is still up for discussion, according to the federal ag minister. In a statement Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said Ottawa gets that Canadian dairy farmers want more direct payments beyond […] Read more






A slide is pictured behind members of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) during a news conference on the Special Report on Climate Change and Land after IPCC’s 50th session in Geneva on Aug. 8, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse)

UN flags need to reduce meat consumption to curb land use impact on global warming

London/Geneva | Reuters — Global meat consumption must fall to curb global warming, reduce growing strains on land and water and improve food security, health and biodiversity, a United Nations report on the effects of climate change concluded. Although the report stopped short of explicitly advocating going meat-free, it called for big changes to farming […] Read more