U.S. President Joe Biden last May loosened restrictions on travel, remittances and migration, and promised the United States would do more to support the fledgling private sector in Cuba.

Change, however, has been too slow to come, said Paul Johnson, chair of the U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cuba, a more-than-100-member organization that includes national and state farm organizations, corporations and producers.

“We’re losing, and we’re tired of losing,” Johnson told reporters on the sidelines of the gathering at a hotel in Havana.

The U.S. businesses are keen to both sell their own product to Cuba and to invest in private sector farms and cooperatives to help them develop.

Little has changed on the island since a similar group of would-be investors arrived last April. Many farms have been shuttered by lack of investment, equipment, fuel and supplies, leading to widespread shortages of food across Cuba.

“It’s frustrating to us in the United States, because we believe it’s something that we can fix. We need to go back to our government… and insist that the private sector is a path forward to development,” said Johnson.

Cuba, a long-time foe of the U.S., swapped capitalism for socialism shortly after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, preferring state over private enterprise.

But in August 2021, the communist-run government lifted a ban on private companies that had been in place since 1968. Upwards of 7,000 such businesses have opened since, according to an economy ministry list updated on March 23.

Canada, according to the federal Trade Commissioner Service, is Cuba’s second-largest source of direct investment, with “significant” stakes in mining, energy, agriculture and heavy equipment, as well as in tourism, with over one million Canadians visiting Cuba annually, pre-pandemic. Cuba is also Canada’s top market in the Caribbean/Central American sub-region.

Investors from countries including Mexico, Venezuela, Vietnam, China, Spain and Russia, among others, have also previously participated in state and private business in Cuba.

The United States remains an outlier. The U.S. Treasury Department last May authorized a company owned by entrepreneur John Kavulich to invest in a small private business in Cuba’s services sector, the first such approval in decades.

But many other similar requests remain unanswered, Johnson said.

“Obviously that’s just not good enough,” Johnson said. “We’re capitalists. We invest in private business all around the world. Why can’t we do it in Cuba?”

Despite the loosening of some restrictions, a Cold War-era U.S. embargo on Cuba remains in place, prohibiting some trade and financing between the two countries and complicating investment ties.

— Nelson Acosta is a Reuters correspondent in Havana. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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Organigram, headquartered at Moncton, grows cannabis and makes cannabis-derived products in the Canadian market, where marijuana was legalized in 2018.

Big tobacco and liquor companies in North America have already made large investments in the nascent industry, with cannabis seen as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.

With top Democratic lawmakers in the United States also promising to decriminalize marijuana use, analysts and experts predict record investment in the industry this year.

The deal will give BAT access to R+D technologies, product innovation and cannabis expertise, it said in a statement, with an initial focus on natural remedy cannabidiol (CBD).

“This move takes us into a new space and we are not ruling out any product innovation,” David O’Reilly, director of scientific research at BAT, told Reuters.

Organigram CEO Greg Engel said the companies will jointly develop new products for cannabis delivery, both oral and vapour based, and will be able to commercialize any products developed under their own brands.

Both BAT and Organigram will contribute scientists, researchers and product developers, BAT said. It will become Organigram’s largest shareholder and can appoint two directors to its board.

Natural fit

“We view this move as a strong positive. Cannabis overall provides a natural fit for tobacco and a big incremental growth opportunity,” Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett wrote in an note.

BAT has expertise in operating in a regulated environment and experience of growing a crop similar to hemp CBD, Bennett said, adding that the timing of the deal before Organigram’s possible entry into the United States is also a big positive.

Bennett estimates U.S. CBD market sales of over US$16 billion by 2025.

Organigram’s U.S.-listed shares surged around 30 per cent to US$3.75 in morning trading on the Nasdaq. BAT’s London-listed shares were up slightly.

BAT’s investment comes two days after the Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarette maker laid out environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets, including switching more people to less harmful products.

The group aims to achieve at least five billion pounds in revenue from sales of e-cigarettes, tobacco heating and oral nicotine products in 2025.

Elsewhere in the industry, Marlboro maker Altria has invested in pot producer Cronos Group, while Corona beer-maker Constellation Brands has a stake in Canopy Growth, the largest cannabis company globally by market value.

— Reporting for Reuters by Tanishaa Nadkar, Aby Jose Koilparambil, Shariq Khan and Siddharth Cavale in Bangalore.

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Barbados, a Caribbean island 13 degrees north of the equator, was settled by the British in 1627. The early settlers saw the great agricultural potential and established crops consisting of cotton, tobacco, yam, cassava and sugar cane. The island, which is 431 square km, became the starting point for English colonization of the Americas. From the mid-1600s, sugar exports were king and this continued for the next three centuries. Today sugar is no longer king and the island is trying to reduce its dependence on imports by promoting home-grown food.

The Barbados Agricultural Society is over 150 years old. It was established in 1845 by an act of Parliament in Barbados and seeks to represent the interests of the agricultural sector in all relevant forums. It is involved with organizing the annual Agrofest exhibition, a three-day event featuring the entire agricultural industry in Barbados.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is behind this new initiative to reduce agricultural imports and to promote local food and nutrition security. The Farmers’ Empowerment and Enfranchisement Drive is a three-year program to assist in the establishment of agricultural enterprises in a variety of farming systems. It includes training, demonstration facilities and the provision of startup funding for small drip irrigation systems, fertilizer and seed.

Forage nutrition key

Sourcing livestock feed and forages is a big problem in Barbados. Ronnette Bowen, an agricultural officer attached to the animal nutrition unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, is responsible for forage research and development. Currently she is doing a master’s degree in animal nutrition and is evaluating animal nutrition as a viable means of improving animal production primarily in ruminants.

“The grasses and forages that we have here don’t have many of the same nutritional properties of those in temperate climates. Forages on the island are Bermuda-cross, Antigua, African star and Pangola grass and the legume Stylosanthes. Another forage is a tree-like legume called Leucaena. It is widespread on the island but that has some drawbacks in terms of tannins. There are no feedlots here and the cattle are reared either extensively or semi-extensively.”

Bowen is looking at how to use nutrition to lower the import of grains as feedstuffs. She is also studying how to create alternative rations that can be conserved or made into concentrates.

“It’s especially important during the dry season when the grazing is poor and we have been known to have droughts. It’s a lot of nutrition, forage utilization, economics and a lot more politics than I thought it would be.”

Usually grains are imported before the start of the hurricane season and stored, says Bowen. Pinnacle Feeds is the only concentrate feed producers on the island.

“The feeds are made using byproducts from their sister company, Roberts Manufacturing and Barbados Mills, and are nutritionally balanced for the different stages and production by their team of nutritionists,” says Bowen.

The small beef and dairy cattle breeding industry relies on artificial insemination, Bowen says. “This is done by using the cattle artificial insemination unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. The semen currently imported are Holstein, Jersey, Red and Black Angus.”

Barbados has some of strictest regulations when it comes importing semen and live animals, Bowen adds.

Earning an ag degree means going off-island, Bowen says. Bowen did her first degree in Cuba, but the closest institute is the University of the West Indies in Trinidad.

“I have a degree in veterinary medicine and zootechnics and now I’m doing post-grad in the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and with any luck, I should be finished by the end of the year.”

Retailing beef in the Caribbean

“All our cows are vegetarian… so you don’t need to be one!”

This is the slogan for Clifton Meats, a local Barbadian brand that prides itself on selling premium quality farm-fresh meat from 100 per cent natural ingredients. The farm is situated in the lush St. Thomas hills a few miles from Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados.

Bruce Bayley of Clifton Farm says their vision is to produce “high-quality, source-verified meat” from local livestock, which is something Barbados can do.

“We produce and sell in our stores and on the internet, grass-fed purebred Angus beef along with pork, Black Belly lamb and free-range eggs. In addition to meat and grocery products in our store in Bridgetown, we provide a very wide selection of fine wines, rums and specialty imported food items to our many customers.

“We have a Brangus-Angus herd that we have started developing over the past six years and have approximately 200 acres in pastures with access to 500 more for grass silage. All our seedstock was imported from the U.S.A. Initially, we started as a breeding and feedlot operation but over the last two years have transitioned to a cow-calf operation.”

Clifton Farm runs 200 mother cows and sells the calves every year to a network of small farmers. “We then repurchase for processing in our plant on the farm.”

The farm makes grass silage as the grazing period lasts only from August to February. Labour and feed costs are relatively high on the island, so grass silage is their best option. Corn does not do well in their climate but some farmers do access brewers’ grains for fattening.

They also do a lot of pork, and make sausages, bacon and other retail products, more so than beef. The store also imports frozen beef from the U.S. as portion-control options for wholesale and retail customers.

Their new store in Bridgetown, just off one of the beautiful main beaches, is very high-end and caters to the tourists and many rich expatriates who now reside on the island. They advertise and sell extensively on the internet through their web page, Facebook and related social media.

Compared to Canadian prices, food is about twice the price and more in the Barbados and this is reflected in the prices on the store’s website. For instance, local grass-fed stewing beef was C$12.50 a kg and Choice ribeye steak was C$58 a kg plus 17 per cent value-added tax.

Clifton Farm really promotes the store and many grocery products. On special holidays the store will provide recipes and recommend wines to go with the food. In addition, staff prepares special samples of different products for customers to taste.

“The primal cuts from our local Angus grass-fed beef are dry-aged for 25 days under controlled conditions to develop the intense flavours and tenderness. This allows the enzymes naturally present in the meat to break down the muscle tissues. These days, most beef is aged in plastic shrink wrap, a process known as wet-aging. In our operation, we dry-age by exposing our primal meat cuts to the air in our coolers. The meat dehydrates a bit and this further concentrates the meat flavours.”

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The total number of Canadians killed by the coronavirus edged up by 0.9 per cent to 7,773 from 7,703 on Saturday, the public health agency said, further evidence that the worst of the pandemic has passed. The total number of cases rose to 95,057 from 94,335.

Canada’s 10 provinces are all gradually reopening their economies and relaxing restrictions on social gatherings. Unemployment, though, has soared to record levels amid widespread shutdowns and market analysts say it could take years for the economy to recover.

“I am concerned about Canadians’ mental health … more Canadians have increased their consumption of alcohol and junk food or sweets since the beginning of the pandemic,” chief public health officer Theresa Tam said in a statement.

Tam, citing the results of a recent Statistics Canada survey about the effects of the pandemic, said Canadians needed to make mental health a priority.

“While social interactions and activities might look different right now, Canadians should be actively looking for safe ways to socialize, engage in physical activity and make … healthy food choices,” she said.

Almost 20 per cent of respondents in the StatsCan survey reported symptoms consistent with moderate or severe anxiety.

Last month, StatsCan said factory sales of beverages and tobacco rose by 6.7 per cent in March from February on higher demand for beer, wine and soft drinks. Food sales increased by 8.2 per cent.

— David Ljunggren is a Reuters political correspondent in Ottawa.

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The Kingdom of Wakanda is the home of Black Panther, the Marvel superhero, and is portrayed in comic books and the 2018 blockbuster movie as an isolated African nation with the most powerful technology on the planet.

“While we removed the Kingdom of Wakanda from our list of US free trade partners, our relationship will always be strong #WakandaForever,” USDA tweeted Thursday from its official account.

The agency did not immediately respond to questions.

A spokesman told the Washington Post that inclusion of the mythical African nation from the universe of Marvel superheroes was a mistake made as part of a test officials were running.

Francis Tseng, a New York-based software engineer who was looking for data on U.S. agricultural tariffs for a fellowship he is pursuing, first noticed the reference to Wakanda on the U.S. tariff list and called it out on Twitter.

“I was very confused at first and thought I misremembered the country from the movie and got it confused with something else,” Tseng told Reuters.

Before it was removed, Tseng managed to download an Excel sheet listing “Harmonized Schedule” tariff codes for various categories of goods traded between Wakanda and the United States including live animals, dairy goods, tobacco and alcohol.

After the list was corrected, Tseng tweeted: “Well, the USDA took Wakanda off the list. Guess we’re in a trade war with them too.”

There was no USDA entry for vibranium, the fictional metal from space that is the source of Wakanda’s power.

Marvel is owned by Walt Disney Co.

— Reporting for Reuters by Karishma Singh; additional reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago.

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That’s according to the latest satellite data from the federal Crop Condition Assessment Program (CCAP), created in partnership between Statistics Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Crop development was much lower than normal across all three Prairie provinces.

“Dry conditions in the last few weeks preceding May 26 allowed seeding to take place normally, however the low moisture content of the topsoil is a concern and more rain is needed for normal crop growth,” Statistics Canada reported.

Rainfall across the Prairies was 40 to 60 per cent below normal in the previous two months, according to AAFC.

Meanwhile, spring precipitation in eastern Ontario and Nova Scotia was as much as 50 per cent above normal, according to the report. The conditions were delaying planting, and warmer and drier weather will be needed.

Detailed interactive maps are updated on a weekly basis by the CCAP and are available online.

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Two decades ago Mugabe’s government carried out at times violent evictions of 4,500 white farmers and redistributed the land to around 300,000 black families, arguing it was redressing imbalances from the colonial era.

But land reform still divides public opinion as opponents see it as a partisan process that left the country struggling to feed itself.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government sees the paying of compensation to white farmers as key to mend ties with the West, and set aside US$17.5 million in this year’s budget to that end. The initial payments will target those in financial distress, while full compensation will be paid later.

“The registration process and list of farmers should be completed by the end of April 2019, after which the interim advance payments will be paid directly to former farm owners,” Zimbabwe’s ministries of finance and agriculture said in a joint statement on Monday.

They said the process to identify and register farmers for compensation was being undertaken the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) and a committee representing the farmers.

A committee comprising government officials and former farm owners is currently valuing improvements made on the farms. That process should end next month and will determine the full amount due to the farmers.

The government, which maintains it will only pay compensation for infrastructure and improvements on farms and not for the land, is talking to international financial institutions on options to raise the full amount to pay farmers.

Colonialists seized some of the best agricultural land and much of it remained in the hands of white farmers after independence in 1980, while many blacks were landless.

— Reporting for Reuters by MacDonald Dzirutwe.

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Dunmore

Dunmore is named after a well-known British nobleman who visited Western Canada in 1888, and who was a very large shareholder in the company floated by Sir Lester Kaye in England, which tried farming on a large scale from 1885 to 1894, having many thousands of acres around Rush Lake, Swift Current, Gull Lake, Forres (now Halton), Dunmore, Stair, Bantry, Namaka and Langdon. The Earl of Dunmore was also a large shareholder in the Canadian Agricultural Coal and Colonization Co. Largely through his efforts, farming was commenced on the old “76” Ranch at Dunmore as it was afterwards known. The ranch received its name because when fenced, it was seven miles one way and six miles the other. Through the instrumentality of his lordship, Dunmore, with the assistance and co-operation of Canadian Pacific Railroad, became the shipping point for coal mined at Lethbridge.

Bull’s Head Creek

Bull’s Head is named after the creek which runs near by and thence into the Saskatchewan. The late Jas. Sanderson told the writer that Bull’s Head Creek got its name from the Sarcees, who were camped up near the Swan coal mine just across the river from the present site of Redcliffe in the early seventies. Runners brought in word of a considerable herd of buffalo near Stark’s Ranch. The Indians mounted on their best war ponies chased the stampeding herd towards Dunmore Junction, when an angry old bull turned “on the prod,” charging the buffalo runner Bull’s Head was mounted on. Hard pressed, he just managed to jump into the creek, and take cover under the side of the bank. He was fortunate in escaping with his life while the enraged animal took after the flying cayuse. Hence the title given to the creek to commemorate the narrow escape of Bull’s Head.

Seven Persons

Seven Persons gets its rather extraordinary name from a very remarkable Indian legend or tradition: that seven white men were found dead outside their tents on the creek. While it is much more probable that they were massacred by a band of Crees or Blackfeet, the Indian legend is that they were mysteriously stricken dead by the fiat of the Manitou for venturing into territory belonging strictly to the Red man. Ever since the scene of this occurrence has been known to the Indians as the-place-where-seven-persons-were-found-dead. This was afterwards abbreviated and the place called Seven Persons. George Dunn, an old-time trader who hunted and trapped with the Indians between Medicine Hat and Swift Current, said the Cree Indians gave currency to a story that seven men were drowned crossing the creek in very high water during the spring-time flood, hence the name which was given to commemorate this old-time tragedy. The name given by the Blackfeet Indians was “Kitsuki-a-tapi,” which being interpreted means in the English tongue, Seven Persons and this title is given by Dawson in his survey.

Bow Island, Winnifred

Bow Island, the centre of a good gas field which supplies Lethbridge and intermediate places as far as Calgary, is a purely descriptive name taken from the circle of loop in the Bow River three miles north of the place.

Winnifred is named in honour of a shareholder in Alberta (Railway) and Coal Co.

Burdett, Coutts, Purple Springs

Burdett, like Coutts, down near the International Boundary, is supposed to take its name from a well-known woman very prominent in philanthropic work in the Old Country — Baroness Burdett-Coutts. The Baroness was a daughter of Sir Francis Burdett and gained great distinction by the very liberal use of the great fortune she inherited. She built a number of churches among which is the beautiful edifice named St. Stephen’s, at Westminster; endowed the bishoprics of Adelaide, Cape Town and British Columbia; aided many emigrants to better themselves in the overseas Dominions and provide a “Home” for such women as had lapsed into evil ways at Shepherd’s Bush, London. In 1881 she was made a baroness in her own right. The baroness was interested in ranching and invested considerable amounts in development of Western projects.

Purple Springs does not get its name from Nellie McClung’s book, but received its name by way of a joke, because of a local spring where purple flowers were few and far between.

Grassy Lake

Grassy Lake, like Chin Coulee at the head of the irrigation ditch, is a purely descriptive name. Sargeant Bray, for many years stock inspector at Medicine Hat, said that after Fort Walsh was built in 1876, a party of police were going back to Macleod, among whom was a very inquisitive member who kept continually bothering Jerry Potts, all the time keeping up a running fire of cross-examination. As Potts was, generally speaking, very non-communicative, soon the patience of the famous guide was completely exhausted. Passing near the present site of Grassy Lake, his tormentor ventured another query, asking Potts if he could get water in the lake or slough covered with reeds which they saw in the distance. In reply Jerry contemptuously spat out a quid of tobacco, saying “the only thing you can get in a lake around here in August is plenty of grass: in fact, they are all grassy lakes. This is the driest part of Alberta. You need a permit to get water around here. There are bull frogs here ten years old that don’t know how to swim. If you expect to get water you’ll have to put the slough through a wringer and then you’ll have have to do it quite a few times before you get enough to make a cup of tea.” The description of the adjacent country by the well-known guide has apparently stuck to Grassy Lake. The Blackfoot name of the place is “Moyi-Kimi” according to early surveys which, being interpreted, means the same.

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The USDA was set to release its views on the projected size of U.S. soybean stockpiles, among other data, following a record-large domestic harvest and a trade war with China that has slowed U.S. exports.

Commodity traders, economists, grain merchants and farmers are anxious for crop updates as they work to project their financial balance sheets and make spring planting decisions.

“It’s been crazy busy,” said Sara Menker, CEO of New York-based Gro Intelligence.

The shutdown, now in its third week, has rippled across the already struggling U.S. farm economy ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned address at the American Farm Bureau conference in Louisiana on Monday. Federal loan and farm aid applications have also been delayed.

To fill the void on data, traders and farmers are relying on private crop forecasters, satellite imagery firms and brokerages offering analyses on trade and supplies. Some have been scouring Twitter for tidbits on shifting weather patterns and rumours of grain exports, but say it is difficult to replace USDA.

“We’re just doing the best we can, looking for as much information as is available,” said Brian Basting, economist for Illinois-based broker Advance Trading, which provides customers its own harvest and crop supply estimates.

“Everyone’s got their own internal numbers but the USDA is the most comprehensive data source.”

Dan Henebry, an Illinois corn and soy farmer, said the absence of USDA data was difficult.

“You delay all these reports and the market has no idea where to go, other than trade guesses,” Henebry said.

Hunt for numbers

Gro Intelligence has been offering free access to its data platform since Dec. 27, and plans to release worldwide supply-demand crop forecasts on Friday. The company will keep its platform open for the duration of the shutdown, Menker said.

So far, Menker said, the site has signed up executives from the top 10 global agribusiness companies and major financial institutions with credit exposure to U.S. agriculture.

Data firm Mercaris has gained new subscribers too, as it has become the only source for organic commodity prices since the halt in USDA reports, sales director Alex Heilman said. The Maryland-based company is making an additional pricing report available to users for free until the federal agency reopens.

“Everybody still needs this information for creating contracts, new product lines, planting acres,” Heilman said.

Farmers Business Network (FBN), which collects harvest data from 7,000 U.S. farmers, is set to release crop yield estimates on Friday to members. The data is not as comprehensive as the USDA’s report would have been, though, said Kevin McNew, FBN’s chief economist.

“At the end of the day, we still need a benchmark,” McNew said. “For better or worse, USDA is the best benchmark we have.”

While crops are not growing in North America during the winter season, traders are still looking for updated information from South America and other parts of the world where soy and other crops are growing.

An increase in private companies using government-collected satellite images to track farmed fields in recent years helps shine a light on global crop conditions even while government agencies are dark. The government’s Landsat satellites continue to collect images of the earth and other data.

Private companies such as Descartes Labs can still access the open-sourced data and analyze it. The Santa Fe, New Mexico-based company is among the crop forecasters that releases its own production estimates based on its research and analyses of government-collected data.

The public can normally see those images on the U.S. Geological Survey’s website, but it is not being updated during the shutdown, according to a notice on the site.

And all technology can be problematic, said Steve Truitt, government program manager for Descartes.

Data packets occasionally have shown up late during the shutdown, or have not arrived, Truitt said. The government staffers at USDA and the Interior Department who Descartes usually calls either cannot be reached or are working without pay, leading to awkward conversations.

The shutdown has also caused uncertainty within Descartes’ offices, which has several impacted government contracts. Staff are not sure when invoices will be paid, Truitt said, or whether delivery dates are being pushed back.

— Reporting for Reuters by P.J. Huffstutter and Tom Polansek in Chicago; additional reporting by Julie Ingwersen.

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The alliance, the latest in a string of deals by global alcohol and tobacco giants in Canada’s cannabis sector, comes amid booming demand for cannabis and a long-term decline in alcohol consumption and smoking.

AB InBev’s Labatt Breweries of Canada, which makes such brands as Blue, 50, Alexander Keith’s, Kokanee and Budweiser, will work with Tilray’s Canadian cannabis subsidiary, High Park Co., which develops and sells cannabis products in Canada, the companies said in a statement.

Canada, which became the world’s first major country to fully legalize the recreational use of cannabis in October, is expected to approve cannabis-based products including beverages and edibles in October 2019.

“It’s too early to know how big cannabinoid-based beverages will be but we think it’s a massive opportunity and it’s something we’re interested in investing aggressively in,” Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy told Reuters Wednesday.

AB InBev and Tilray said they each plan to invest up to $50 million to research drinks with cannabidiol (CBD), a component of cannabis that does not cause intoxication, and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the substance that makes people high (all figures US$).

Discussions about commercialization are likely to follow, and Tilray’s objective is to have beverages ready when they become legal in Canada, Kennedy said.

A gradual increase in legalized recreational use of cannabis for adults in U.S. states and in medical cannabis around the world has sparked investment and partnership deals for Canadian companies.

On Tuesday, Tilray said it will work with Sandoz, a unit of Swiss drug company Novartis, to develop and distribute medical marijuana worldwide.

Tilray is also exploring opportunities to make acquisitions in 2019, both within and outside the cannabis space, Kennedy said.

In the cannabis industry’s largest investment, Corona beer maker Constellation Brands added $4 billion to its $200 million investment in Canopy Growth in August to help fund the Canadian cannabis producer’s global expansion.

In a more modest deal that same month, Molson Coors, the No. 2 beer maker in North America, struck a Canadian joint venture with marijuana producer Hexo Corp. to make cannabis drinks.

In the tobacco industry’s first major foray into cannabis, Altria Group said this month it would invest $1.8 billion in Cronos Group for up to 55 per cent of the Canadian cannabis producer.

— Reporting for Reuters by Susan Taylor and Nichola Saminather in Toronto.

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