Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS) controls more than one-fifth of the world’s reserves of potash; its home province of Saskatchewan sits on roughly half of that amount. As we move forward, an assessment of our agricultural policies and marketing practices in the context of the rapidly changing world of agricultural commodities is long overdue. The strategy should make sense to all Canadians, both politically and economically.
Agriculture
Dairy Farmers Still Milking All Of Us
“Supply management has remained basically unchanged since its inception more than 40 years ago. It has enriched dairy farmers, blackened Canada’s reputation as a free trading nation, forced Canadians to pay a hidden regressive tax on dairy products at the checkout counter and undermined the efficiency of both dairy farmers and commercial users of dairy products.”
Climate Changes, Grain Exports and A New World Order in Food: Higher food prices may be coming at right time
There is hardly a crisis in agricultural commodities but rather a continuing recalibration between supply and demand.
Attention Whole Foods Shoppers: Stop obsessing about arugula. Your ‘sustainable’ mantra — organic, local, and slow — is no recipe for saving the world’s hungry millions.
“Though it’s certainly a good thing to be thinking about global welfare while chopping our certified organic onions, the hope that we can help others by changing our shopping and eating habits is being wildly oversold to Western consumers.”
Featured News
No Evidence of Climate Crisis
In his annual State of the Climate report published on April 14, 2022, Dr. Ole Humlum, Emeritus Professor at the University of Oslo, examined detailed patterns in temperature changes in the atmosphere and oceans together with trends in climate impacts. Many of these...
It Is Time to Move On
I wrote an opinion column immediately following the May 27, 2021 announcement of the “shocking discovery of 215 bodies found in a mass grave at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.” In that column, I correctly stressed the need to wait for real...
Alex Avery, Center for Global Food Issues, Hudson Institute
In both urban and rural communities, stereotypes and preconceived notions about intensive livestock operations, factory farming, the development of genetically modified crops and the use of crop protection products and fertilizers are rife. Alex Avery offers his refreshingly honest perspective.
Organic Farmers Sowing Fear?
THE organic food industry is using fear-mongering to bolster its profits, says the author of a new book on organic farming.
Exploding Modern Agriculture Myths – PowerPoint
From Lunch on the Frontier -Exploding Modern Myths in Agriculture – by Alex Avery, January 10th, 2006 in Winnipeg
Lunch on the Frontier – The Myths of Modern Agriculture – With Alex Avery
Watch Alex Avery discuss modern agriculture on Lunch on the Frontier. (48 minutes)
Poor Countries Tear Down This Wall!
The big World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong next week is widely expected to be a flop, just like its predecessor in Cancun two years ago. But it doesn't have to be. Ministers from 148 countries, gathering for the latest session in the Doha Round aimed at...
Growing Hog Opportunities on the Prairies
Further growth in the burgeoning pork industry is hampered by high feed costs, and a simple solution is available.
Don’t Tax Groceries to Save the Farm
Danger lurks when soil scientists enter the unfamiliar territory of economics.
Fixing the Wheat Board’s Democratic Deficit
Elections of directors to the Canadian Wheat Board should exclude farmers who have little stake in the outcome.
Submission to the Canadian Wheat Board Election Review Panel
If we want the Canadian Wheat Board to be an effective economic agent, its governance must better reflect the interests of its largest producers.