It's entirely possible that the United States Congress could ratify the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA/CUSMA) before Christmas, says Jim Wiesemeyer, Washington analyst for ProFarmer, as the votes are there — but will they? There is still work to be done in Congress ahead of the holidays, Wiesemeyer says, including passing a spending bill, so ratification before... Read More
Category: News
This week, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture elected Keith Currie to a fourth term as leader of the general farm organization. Currie has a reputation for building relationships inside and outside the organization and helping change the culture of the farm lobby group. But there's more work to do. In this interview with RealAgriculture's Bernard... Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario want the federal government to be more proactive in bringing the CN Rail and teamsters union dispute to an end before it impacts agriculture. It would seem that's already happening, however, as at least one farmer in the eastern region of Ontario has already reported that they've been told that propane... Read More
Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) walked off the job Tuesday, November 19, to begin a strike protesting what the union calls unsafe working conditions. Negotiations between CN Rain and the union have been on-going for the past seven months with federal mediators being used in the past five months. The 72-hour strike... Read More
Incumbent Keith Currie has been re-elected as president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, currently holding its annual general meeting at Hamilton, Ont. Currie received the nod after an election with challenger and current vice-president of OFA, Peggy Brekveld. Currie has served three, one-year terms as president. In his acceptance speech, Currie said, "You would... Read More
The commissions that represent wheat and barley growers in Alberta are calling on the federal government to intervene if a strike by CN Rail employees takes place on Tuesday. Over the weekend, the union that represents more than 3,000 CN workers says it will strike one minute past midnight if negotiations aren't resolved prior to.... Read More
Lori Litherland, who established and ran Ontario-based Litherland and Co. human resources for 26 years, died in early June of this year. When she became ill, she founded and endowed a registered charity, Lori Litherland Foundation, to raise funds so that financially disadvantaged students would have the opportunity to attend university and follow their passion... Read More
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has released their October ag tractor and combine sales report, and perhaps unsurprising to many, sales in all but one category are down compared to 2018. Though October still saw the expected spike in unit sales for the year, the total for farm tractors sold in the month was down... Read More
A spokesperson for CN Rail confirms that due to "adjusting its resources to demand," CN has laid off approximately 1,600, including managers, office employees, and unionized rail workers . Those in a range of positions within the CN Rail network both in Canada and the U.S. will lose their job. According to CN, the layoffs... Read More
Poor harvest conditions in Alberta have caused an unthinkable about of economic loss let alone stress for the farmer this year. Mix in the uncertainty of trade, ongoing disputes across the global political stage, and business risk management (BRM) programs not being equipped to handle the issues is a recipe for disaster, according to Team... Read More