4 Our Advertisers Appreciate Your Business Better Farming | October 2024 1-888-248-4893 PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR PAUL NOLAN ext 202 Paul.Nolan@Farms.com ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR LESLIE STEWART ext 265 Leslie.Stewart@Farms.com AGRICULTURAL JOURNALISTS MARY LOGGAN EMILY MCKINLAY PRAIRIE CONTRIBUTORS STACY BERRY RON SETTLER Parkland County, Alta. Lucky Lake, Sask. NATIONAL CONTRIBUTORS MOE AGOSTINO ABHINESH GOPAL DIEGO FLAMMINI EUGENIE OFFICER ADVERTISING TEAM GLENN RUEGG JEFF McKEE JENNY LONGSTREET SCOTT FARHOOD SAMANTHA RENAUD JOAN SPIEGELBERG ANDREW BAWDEN DESIGN & PRODUCTION TEAM TANYA MYERS GREG MARLOW SHAUN CLARK ANDREA WILLIAMS www.BetterFarming.com Better Farming Magazine, Prairie Edition is mailed to producers in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Next issue: November 2024. 1-888-248-4893 ext 281 Subscriptions@BetterFarming.com ISSN 2563-9803 (Printed) Copyright ©2024 by AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any content without written permission of the publisher is forbidden. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute endorsement of the advertiser, its products or services, nor do Better Farming, AgMedia or Farms.com endorse any advertiser claims. The publisher shall have no liability for the omission of any scheduled advertising. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 90 Woodlawn Road West, Guelph, ON N1H 1B2 Mail agreement #0042518524 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. Cover: Jordan Tomalty photo, Jordan Feeg - stock.adobe.com Follow us on @PrairieFarming INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE “Winter annuals are strong competitors for water and nutrients in the spring. These weeds have a head start. You want to make sure you’re controlling them from the end of harvest to freeze-up, weather dependent.” - Carmen Prang, Page 15 “When a physician is looking for a job, the financial incentives and overall salary of rural positions must be high enough so that there is a draw of workers from urban to rural.” - Dr. Rithesh Ram, Page 19 “Sheep can save the world. It sounds crazy, but I mean it.” - Jennifer Osborn, Page 26 “I’ve always had a passion for farming as I was growing up. I spent a lot of time riding along with my dad. I would always come home from school and couldn’t wait to get out to the farm and ride along with him.” - Brock Tomalty, Page 28 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR TERRIBLE TIMING FOR TRADE SPAT It’s not the first time Canada’s canola industry has been caught up in an unnecessary and costly international trade dispute with China, but the timing here is not great. We were just chugging along after the drama (again, unnecessary) of the railway labour disputes. You will recall how Canada recently announced a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicle imports and a 25 per cent tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum, aligning with similar actions taken by the United States and European Union. In response, China initiated an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian canola imports. As Farms.com colleague Diego Flammini wrote in a recent article online, Chinese officials said their probe was based on Chinese commerce industry reports that “Canada’s canola exports to China have increased significantly and are suspected of dumping, reaching US$3.47 billion in 2023, a year-onyear increase of 170 per cent, and prices have continued to fall.” Further: “Affected by Canada’s unfair competition, China’s domestic canola-related industries continue to suffer losses.” Canada’s ag sector is watching the situation closely. And that’s about all we can do at the moment. The Canola Council of Canada is confident any investigation will show Canada’s practices are above board, of course. “China is an important and valued market for Canadian canola,” Chris Davison, president & CEO of the CCC, said in a statement. “We are confident that an investigation into Canada’s canola trade with China will demonstrate alignment with and reinforce our support for rules-based trade.” Most of us will recall how China has targeted Canadian ag in the past. These are not good memories. Following Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on Dec. 1, 2018, for example, China blocked imports of Canadian canola and all Canadian meat, citing impurities and labelling issues, though never outright linking the two issues. We shall look for a more timely resolution here in 2024.
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