Latest news with #agriculture
CTV News
an hour ago
- Business
- CTV News
Canada and New Zealand resolve dairy trade dispute, Canada says
A Holstein cow stands in a pasture at a dairy farm near Calgary in an Aug. 31, 2016, file photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh Canada and New Zealand have reached a 'mutually satisfactory' resolution to a long-running dispute over access for dairy products, the Canadian government said in a statement on Thursday. 'This agreement, negotiated in close consultation with Canadian dairy stakeholders, will result in certain minor policy changes to Canada's TRQ (tariff rate quotas) administration, and does not amend Canada's market access commitments,' International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said in a statement. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Writing by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto)
RNZ News
an hour ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Massive transfer of wealth coming as farmers age
The next decade will see the largest inter-generational transfer of wealth as more than 17,000 farm and orchard owners reach pension age. A recent Rabo Bank report says based on current values that's $150 billion worth of assets to potentially change hands. However the research finds only one in three farmers have a formal succession plan in place. Rabo Bank Chief Executive Todd Charteris says the succession challenge ahead for the agricultural sector is becoming more complex, but must be addressed. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on the EU budget: major barriers to getting an agreement
The EU budget unveiled by Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, was more ambitious in scale than had been expected. But the furious reaction from those who fear they will lose out in the €2 trillion package means there will be a lot of political horse-trading if the final budget is to be agreed by member states and the European Parliament by the 2027 deadline. Even though the commission touted a headline figure of €2 trillion, the actual amount to be allocated is just over €1.8 trillion, when Covid debt payments are factored in. This is still a considerable increase on the €1.2 trillion agreed for the EU budget in 2021, though it still only represents 1.23 per cent of EU GDP. A sum of €300 billion was allocated for agriculture, compared to €386billion in the 2021 budget. What's more, agriculture is no longer a standalone section in the budget. Farmer organisations have vowed to resist the reforms. The spending priorities delineated by the commission reflect the challenges facing the bloc. One is a lacklustre economic performance. There were sizeable increases in allocations for research, innovation and the digital economy. The budget also directs more to eastern member states and allows for extra defence spending. READ MORE To help fund this, the commission is proposing a list of new fund-raising measures, including a tax on big companies. These are sure to prove controversial. And with questions about the financing of the package as well as the direction of resources, what emerges may look very different from the initial plan. Member states have ruled out bigger national contributions and many remain resistant to the idea of expanding common debt issuance to fund centralised spending. There are a lot of spending demands, in other words, but few easy ways to find revenue to meet them. Many member states will push for a smaller EU budget while the European Parliament will argue for more. These are the seemingly intractable problems that von der Leyen has to solve over the next two years.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Islamabad invites Chinese enterprises to invest in Pakistan's agriculture sector
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Minister for Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain on Thursday invited Chinese enterprises to invest in the country's agriculture sector, eyeing stronger collaboration with Beijing in irrigation technologies and modern farming techniques. Pakistan has recently undertaken efforts to promote its agriculture sector, which include establishing a new regulatory body this week to reform the sector and bring domestic food safety standards in line with international requirements. Agriculture remains a cornerstone of Pakistan's economy, employing nearly 38 percent of the workforce and contributing around 19 percent to the country's GDP. However, the sector has long faced challenges, including outdated practices, poor regulatory oversight, low export competitiveness and barriers in meeting international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards. Hussain met a high-level Chinese delegation including Jiang Zaidong, the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, on the sidelines of the China-Pakistan Economic and Trade Exchange Conference in Islamabad. 'The Minister also underlined the importance of public-private partnerships and urged Chinese enterprises, including those from XPCC [Xinjian Production and Construction Corps] and China Xinjian Group, to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan's agriculture and agri-business sectors,' the food security and research ministry said in a statement. Hussain welcomed proposals for joint ventures, research exchanges and the establishment of demonstration farms and technology centers in Pakistan, the statement added. The two sides discussed enhancing agricultural cooperation, particularly focusing on research, cotton production, seed development, irrigation efficiency and technological exchange. The Pakistani minister highlighted the challenges Islamabad has faced in recent years, especially in cotton production, where declining yields and outdated seed varieties have created major setbacks, the ministry said. 'The Minister expressed keen interest in learning from Xinjiang's remarkable progress in improving agricultural productivity, especially in regions with arid and semi-arid climates, which closely resemble many parts of Pakistan,' the statement said. Zaidong reaffirmed China's commitment to deepening agricultural cooperation with Pakistan, the food security ministry said. 'He appreciated Pakistan's proactive approach and openness to collaboration and highlighted the potential for long-term partnership in food security, technology transfer, and rural development,' the statement added. Pakistan has undertaken a reform drive to enhance its economic sectors via the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). The SIFC is a civil-military hybrid body formed in 2023 to fast-track foreign investment and economic reform in strategic sectors, including agriculture, mining, IT and defense production. Pakistan aims to attract international investment in its key economic sectors to ward off a prolonged macroeconomic crisis that has drained its resources and embroiled the country in a balance of payments crisis.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Canadian wheat, canola crops a 'mixed bag,' with rain critical
By Ed White LANGHAM, Saskatchewan (Reuters) -Canadian farmers are likely to produce average-size wheat and canola crops this autumn, but years of drought have made rain critical for the plants to fulfill their potential, farmers and analysts said this week at the Ag in Motion farm show. In eastern Saskatchewan, Robert Andjelic, a major Canadian farmland investor, said he was seeing lush, dense crops of spring wheat and canola in perfect condition. In southwestern Saskatchewan, however, he described spring wheat dying under the pressure of extreme drought. Across Western Canada, he saw a wide range of "terrible" to "terrific" crops, he said. "It's such a mixed bag," he said while touring some of the more than 225,000 acres (91,000 hectares) he owns across the prairie provinces. Canada is the world's largest exporter of canola, durum wheat, and some pulse crops such as lentils, with China, the United States, Japan, Mexico, North Africa, and India among its largest buyers. Its spring wheat crop is vital to millers around the globe, and U.S. grocery shelf staples such as Cheerios cereal and Quaker oatmeal rely on Canadian oats. Analysts and farmers interviewed by Reuters said they expect the country's total crop output to be about the same as last year, when farmers also endured a wide range of conditions, but still produced one of Canada's biggest crops ever. While that probably means Canada's canola and spring wheat production will be about the same as last year, when farmers produced average-sized harvests, the outlook is worse for durum wheat and lentils, which farmers grow in some of the areas hit by extreme dryness. "They have been under these conditions too long," crop analyst Bruce Burnett of MarketsFarm said about some durum and lentil crops in the southwestern Prairies, adding that some were being baled for livestock feed. Farmers said cereal grains such as wheat and durum were developing far fewer kernels per plant because of drought in some areas, resulting in lower yields. Burnett estimates Canadian durum yield will be less than last year's 34 bushels per acre, which was an average yield. Most farmers need at least one more significant rainfall for grain kernels to fill out, farmers and analysts said. Burnett said canola crops were benefiting from cooler weather this July than last year, when scorching heat damaged millions of acres that were in the crucial flowering stage. Smoky air from forest fires was making the sunlight less direct and harsh, he said. The oilseed is crushed mainly to produce vegetable oil and animal feed. Statistics Canada is scheduled to issue its first crop production estimates of the year on August 28. Farmer adviser Rob Saik, who drove across central Alberta and Saskatchewan to the farm show, said some parts of the Prairies were producing durum, lentils, and canola hammered by drought, but in most places, "we're in pretty good shape." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
