Local, Regional, Canadian News
PEIFA 76th Annual General Meeting
Are you planning to attend? Please call or email Jennifer at jmurphy@peifa.ca or 902-368-7289 to pre-register and help us plan.
Friday, January 27, 2017 – Confederation Centre of the Arts Agenda
Meeting Costs: Members free – Non-Members $25.00
Excellence in Agriculture Banquet: Members $40.00 – Non-Members $45.00
Water tank part of Farmers Helping Farmers program between P.E.I. and Kenya
She found a gift from her family back on P.E.I. — a 4,600-litre water tank with her name on it installed through Farmers Helping Farmers. MORE
Worker shortages mean tougher times for beef and pork producers
Labour shortages will restrict growth in the beef and pork sectors during the next decade, says the latest analysis from the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC). MORE
Better broadband will be boon to farmers, prof says
Sylvain Charlebois says improved Internet services in rural areas will help produce better agriculture policy MORE
Carbon Farming for the Individual
According to Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution, “carbon farming has the potential to bring our atmosphere back to the magic number of 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide.” MORE
PEI Wild Blueberry Growers Association Marketing and Production Workshop
Open to all members, no registration fee, no pre-registration necessary
Wednesday, January 18th, 2017, 9:00am-12:00pm
Red Shores Racetrack and Casino, Charlottetown
Guest Speakers include Dr. David Yarborough (Wild Blueberry Specialist, University of Maine), Neri Vautour (Executive Director, WBANA Canada), Mike Nicholas (Nicholas and Knight Ltd., UK), Jamie Blanchard (Trade Development Officer, Innovation PEI) and Bryan Inglis (CEO,Food Island Partnership)
Chainsaw Maintenance and Safety course
The PEI Woodlot Owners Association – in co-operation with the Department of Forestry is looking to hold a Chainsaw Maintenance and Safety Course. For further information please contact Matt Hughes at 902-368-7289 or mhughes@peifa.ca
Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey conducted by Corporate Research Associates Inc. (CRA) and sponsored by TD Canada Trust.
CRA has been conducting a Consumer Confidence Index in the region for the last twenty-five years and felt the time was right to have a business perspective on the economy in Atlantic Canada. CRA will produce a Business Confidence Index for each of the four Atlantic provinces and the region overall for comparison purposes.
We would encourage all our members to simply clink on the link below and help us build our own Business Confidence Index. Please be assured that all individual company responses will be treated in complete confidence and only aggregated data will be reported. The survey will only be opened until Wednesday, January 11, 2017. Why not take a few moments and complete the survey now. This survey is only open to those in the private sector.
To complete the survey click on the following link: https://surveys.cra.ca/s/112297/?assn&l=en
Should you have any questions on the survey, or require assistance accessing or completing the survey, please do not hesitate to contact Corporate Research Associates at surveys@cra.ca.
To view the summary report of the inaugural Atlantic Business Confidence Index, click here.
Livestock
Animal pharma firm Merial formally joins Boehringer
Global pharma giants Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim have formally sealed their deal to merge Sanofi’s global animal health business, Merial, into Boehringer’s. MORE
U.S. livestock: Cattle gain on bargain-buying
Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures gained about one per cent on Monday, rebounding from earlier losses on support from a round of bargain buying, traders and analysts said. MORE
NCBA, PLC Praise Senate Effort to Curb Abuse of Antiquities Act
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council applaud the introduction of the Improved National Monument Designation Process Act, championed by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). MORE
IFA Calls for Major Push on Live Export Trade
Speaking at a Bord Bia/Department of Agriculture seminar for live exporters in Tullamore last week, IFA President Joe Healy called for a major national diplomatic initiative to be led by the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed to maximise every single market opportunity on live exports in 2017. MORE
Oman Denies Forging Documents Concerning Saudi Cattle Export
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) has denied the report published in a Saudi newspaper (Al Yaum) regarding export of a cattle shipment from Oman. MORE
Banff Pork Seminar Takes on Global Importance
The chair of the Banff Pork Seminar Organizing Committee says the Banff Pork Seminar has evolved into a meeting of global significance. MORE
US Pork Exports Spiked in November
US pork exports in November spiked up to the highest volume of the year, topping the next highest month (May) by more than 10 per cent. Compared to November 2015, pork exports were up 18 per cent, writes the Steiner Consulting Group. MORE
German Pig Breeding Herd Continues to Contract
Provisional figures from the November census indicate that, at 27.3 million head, the German pig herd had fallen by 1 per cent relative to the same point in 2015. MORE
Dutch Pork Exports Declined in Q3 2016
Fresh/frozen pork volumes exported from the Netherlands were back 6 per cent on the 2015 figure during the first nine months of 2016, at 610 thousand tonnes. MORE
USDA finds bird flu in Montana wild duck
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday it had detected a type of bird flu in a wild duck in central Montana that appeared to match one of the strains found during an outbreak of the disease in 2014 and 2015 that led to the deaths of millions of chickens. MORE
Atlantic Stockyards Market Report – January 5 HERE
*Scroll down to find current report
Ontario Cattlemen’s Association Market Report – Monday, January 9 HERE
Potatoes
Gloomy outlook for potatoes
“We are coming out of a season with superb growing conditions in Idaho and Washington state,” says Marc Turner with Bushwick Commission Company. Idaho sets the tone as it is the largest growing state. “Because of great yields and high quality, everyone in the industry is now working with oversupply and low prices,” Turner added. “Going into the new season, the market was low to begin with due to spillover volume from the 2015 harvest.“ MORE
“Millennials are in favour of organic”
Demand for organic products is increasing, although it is somewhat disappointing as regards potatoes. A few years ago, Warnez also specialised in organic, and in 2016 the company started a separate department for organic potatoes. MORE
AHDB Shares Exclusive Views on Potato Trade 2017
Potato processors from Great Britain may have to look to import raw products from further afield than usual, perhaps looking to countries such as Poland, where the harvest has been better than in NEPG countries, says Arthur Marshall, analyst AHDB Potatoes, for PotatoBusiness.com. MORE
AAFC / InfoHort Potato Reports HERE
USDA – Daily National Potato and Onion Report HERE
Crops
North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola Turns Higher In Final Minutes
ICE Futures Canada canola settled with small gains at Monday’s close, as the speculative selling that weighed on values for most of the day ran out of steam and end user buying came forward to provide support. MORE
ICE Futures Canada Monday: Canola futures prices higher, barley unchanged HERE
Soil adds up
To most people the quality of a soil is the sum of its physical properties — is it healthy and full of microbes? Does water infiltrate it readily or run off? How much air and water can it provide plant roots? Is it hard for roots or equipment to penetrate? MORE
U.S. soybeans may be headed for 90 million acres in 2017: Braun
The soybean-to-corn futures pricing ratio is far higher than it usually is at this time of year MORE
U.S. grains: Soybeans, corn, wheat rise
U.S. soybean futures firmed on Monday, settling up one per cent on some concerns about rain in parts of Argentina curtailing crop production from the world’s third largest exporter of the oilseed, traders said. MORE
Durum marketing 101
If you’re selling bread wheat — Triticum aestivum — there’s a new price signal literally every second as it’s traded on futures markets. If you’re selling its cousin T. durum, finding a fair value is another matter. MORE
AM markets: grains ease, despite ideas of index fund buying HERE
PEI Grain Elevator Prices – HERE
Grain Farmers of Ontario – Daily Commodity Report HERE
More Futures Prices HERE and HERE
General Interest
Safeguarding Biodiversity Must be Integrated Across Agricultural Sectors
Governments from 167 countries have given unprecedented recognition to the need to protect biodiversity across the agricultural sectors as a key action to achieve sustainable development, including ensuring food security and addressing climate change. MORE
MCDA updated on progress of Aquanty project
It’s no crystal ball, but when a new computer modelling program now under development is complete, a much clearer picture how various flood and drought scenarios could impact the rural landscape will emerge. MORE
Manitoba Ag Days at 40
Forty years ago, a business-minded group of Manitobans saw the need for a gathering that would be by, of and for those living and working in the world of agriculture. MORE
Four steps to a fair land rental agreement
As land values increase, so do land rental rates, but commodity prices don’t always follow the same trajectory, although input costs might. MORE
Syngenta, ChemChina submit remedy proposals to EU
China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) and Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta have proposed remedies to the European Union’s competition watchdog to address concerns over their US$43 billion merger agreement. MORE
Mars to buy animal hospital chain
Canadian veterinary chain Associate Veterinary Clinics (AVC) is set to become an arm of pet food giant Mars. MORE
Union Urges Govt to Compel Banks to Allocate Funds to Agriculture
The General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) has appealed to the Nana Akufo Addo administration to use policy tools to compel commercial banks in the country to cede a substantial portion of their loan portfolio to the agriculture sector. MORE
Regular Updates
Weekly PEI Agriculture Market Report – January 6 HERE
Rayglen Market Comments – January 5 HERE
Ontario Farm Market Summary – Friday, January 6 HERE
AgWeather Atlantic HERE
Today’s Local Weather – HERE
Meetings and Events
Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey conducted by Corporate Research Associates Inc. (CRA) and sponsored by TD Canada Trust.
CRA has been conducting a Consumer Confidence Index in the region for the last twenty-five years and felt the time was right to have a business perspective on the economy in Atlantic Canada. CRA will produce a Business Confidence Index for each of the four Atlantic provinces and the region overall for comparison purposes.
We would encourage all our members to simply clink on the link below and help us build our own Business Confidence Index. Please be assured that all individual company responses will be treated in complete confidence and only aggregated data will be reported. The survey will only be opened until Wednesday, January 11, 2017. Why not take a few moments and complete the survey now. This survey is only open to those in the private sector.
To complete the survey click on the following link: https://surveys.cra.ca/s/112297/?assn&l=en
Should you have any questions on the survey, or require assistance accessing or completing the survey, please do not hesitate to contact Corporate Research Associates at surveys@cra.ca.
To view the summary report of the inaugural Atlantic Business Confidence Index, click here.
PEI Wild Blueberry Growers Association Marketing and Production Workshop
Open to all members, no registration fee, no pre-registration necessary
Wednesday, January 18th, 2017, 9:00am-12:00pm
Red Shores Racetrack and Casino, Charlottetown
Guest Speakers include Dr. David Yarborough (Wild Blueberry Specialist, University of Maine), Neri Vautour (Executive Director, WBANA Canada), Mike Nicholas (Nicholas and Knight Ltd., UK), Jamie Blanchard (Trade Development Officer, Innovation PEI) and Bryan Inglis (CEO,Food Island Partnership)
SSDE Industry Engagement Day – January 20, 2017
Our first semester is behind us and it was a tremendous success. During last semester we hosted our first Industry Engagement day and had the great privilege of welcoming well over 100 people to our School of Sustainable Design Engineering. Building on that success, we wish to start the New Year off with good momentum and hold our next Industry Engagement day on the 20th of January 2017. This day will have a specific focus on Bio-Resources and Precision Agriculture.
Goal – Is to gather Industry, Government, and Academia and look for collaboration to advance Bio-Resources and Precision Agriculture. We will also to take the opportunity to introduce the Class of 2017.
Date and time – 20 January 2017 from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.
Location – UPEI Campus. 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE.
Agenda
10:00 – Welcome to the Province of Prince Edward Island and to the University
10:10 – Keynote Address from the Province
10:30 – Introduction of the first keynote speaker Dr. John K. Schueller from the University of Florida by Dr. Aitazaz Farooque
10:35 – Key Note address: Precision Agriculture Technologies for Economically and Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture
11:05 – Introduction of the second keynote speaker Dr. Animesh Dutta from the University of Guelph by Dr. Bishnu Acharya
11:30 – Meet the Graduating Class of 2017 – Introduction by Dr. Wayne Peters, the Director of Student Experience
11:35 – Guided tour by the Industry Partnerships Group
12:00 – Lunch (provided – no turkey)/Networking – 60 mins
1:00 – Panel discussion led by the School of Sustainable Design Engineering with keynote speakers and Government/Industry representatives
2:00 – wrap up and thank you by Dr. Nick Krouglicof, Associate Dean of Engineering and Allan Dale, Industry Partnerships Group
Please RSVP to Lisa Sanderson at lmsanderson@upei.ca
