(Canada Beef Inc. photo)

Mexico halts bid for COOL retaliation

Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico has halted a bid to impose retaliatory trade measures on the U.S. over meat labeling rules after U.S. lawmakers repealed them this week, a Mexican government official said. Mexico had announced earlier this month it would start internal procedures to strip benefits from some U.S. agricultural and industrial imports, […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. Congress repeals COOL on beef, pork

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have both approved a repeal of the government’s six-year old mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) laws on beef and pork. Tucked into an omnibus appropriations bill put before Congress Friday, the repeal shuts the door on a major irritant in North American trade relations and is expected to curb […] Read more


(Canada Beef Inc. photo)

Canada not yet pulling trade trigger on COOL

Canada remains “cautiously optimistic” that the U.S. government will repeal its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law before the Canadian and Mexican governments impose retaliatory tariffs. Federal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking Wednesday from Nairobi on a conference call with reporters, said she was “not going to go into hypotheticals” about Canada’s next move if an omnibus […] Read more

(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.K. review calls for urgent cuts to antibiotic use in livestock

London | Reuters –– Massive use of antibiotics in farming poses a critical threat to global public health and should be reduced dramatically to an internationally-agreed target, according to a British government-commissioned review. Agreeing and implementing a global target for agricultural antibiotic use won’t be easy, the review, led by former Goldman Sachs chief economist […] Read more



VIDEO: Behind the scenes at Canadian Western Agribition

VIDEO: Behind the scenes at Canadian Western Agribition

Lisa Guenther of Grainews shows you a few sights and sounds from Agribition 2015

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Agribition? Is it the cattle shows, the sheep shearing, or perhaps the rodeo? To get a sense of what’s going on at Canada’s largest livestock show, Grainews reporter Lisa Guenther asked show-goers to name their favourite part of Agribition.


(JBSsa.com)

Brazil court probing state-backed loans to JBS

Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazil’s federal accounts court, the TCU, said it had identified irregularities on loans to JBS SA, the world’s largest beef producer, and is deepening an investigation into the company’s relationship with state-run lender BNDES. The TCU is probing loans used to purchase U.S.-companies Swift and Co, for about US$225 million […] Read more

Australia’s Treasurer Scott Morrison, shown here earlier this year, has blocked the sale of S. Kidman’s farmland holdings to overseas bidders. (ScottMorrison.com.au)

Australia blocks foreign firm’s deal for largest farm owner

Sydney | Reuters –– Australia on Thursday blocked the sale of the country’s largest landowner, private farming group S. Kidman and Co., to foreign investors, saying an agricultural area the size of South Korea should remain in Australian hands. Ownership of farmland is a sensitive political issue in Australia amid concerns that foreign buyers are […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Rookie MP named Bloc’s agriculture critic

The Bloc Quebecois has tapped a rookie Montreal-area MP from its expanded 10-member caucus to serve as its new critic for agriculture and agri-food. Simon Marcil won the newly created riding of Mirabel in last month’s election by a spread of 837 votes over Mylene Freeman, the incumbent NDP MP for Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel and the party’s […] Read more