Ag Policy Connection – RealAgriculture

Canadian agriculture's policy framework needs to shift from reacting to crises toward proactively building resilience if the sector is to remain competitive in an increasingly volatile operating environment. That's the "Big Idea" for this episode of the Ag Policy Connection podcast, hosted by Tyler McCann, managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), and... Read More

As Canada navigates trade disruptions, geopolitical uncertainty, and growing concerns about food security, agriculture is increasingly being viewed as a strategic national asset. That shift in thinking is creating new conversations about how policy tools—including tax incentives—can help drive investment, innovation, and long-term growth across the sector. In this episode of the Ag Pol...

As Canadian agriculture becomes increasingly digital, cybersecurity is emerging as a critical business risk that extends far beyond computers and software. From automated livestock systems to cloud-based farm records and precision agriculture tools, a cyber attack can disrupt operations, impact animal welfare, and threaten business continuity. In this episode of the Ag Policy Connection podcast,.....

Canada’s biofuels sector is at a pivotal moment as industry leaders warn that delays and uncertainty around Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR) amendments could stall investment and shift production opportunities south of the border. In this Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) webinar presented in partnership with RealAgriculture and BASF Agricultural Solutions, panellists from across the fu...

Competing in global commodity markets is a race Canada can’t win long-term, says Ted Bilyea, former executive vice-president of Maple Leaf Foods and distinguished fellow with the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI). In this episode of Ag Policy Connection, Bilyea says that Canada’s advantage lies in differentiation — creating food products consumers specifically want and.....

A staggering share of Canada’s food never gets eaten—and Lori Nikkel says that’s a systems problem, not an accident. In this episode of the Ag Policy Connection podcast, Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest, outlines why a national food waste strategy is critical to strengthening Canada’s food system. Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization,... Read Mo...

Agriculture is often framed as an economic driver, but Alison Sunstrum says that Canada should treat it as something far more strategic: national security. In this conversation on the Ag Policy Connection podcast with co-hosts Tyler McCann and Elise Bigley of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), Sunstrum—CEO of ConserveX, managing partner at NYA Ventures,... Read More

Global agriculture is navigating a period of profound geopolitical, economic, and environmental upheaval, raising urgent questions about how our food systems can remain sustainable, resilient, profitable, and for many, affordable. While politics and conflicts may divide nations and thicken borders, food — and the policies around how it is produced and where it goes —... Read More

Better management doesn’t just improve margins — it could reshape how Canada designs farm policy. In this episode of the Ag Policy Connection podcast, Tyler McCann and Elise Bigley of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute sit down with Terry Betker, founder of Backswath Management, to explore a deceptively simple but far-reaching idea: build a national... Read More

It's time to rethink how we fund plant breeding. While much of Canadian agriculture has evolved to meet today’s demands, the model for funding plant breeding is lagging—and risks falling behind entirely. That’s the concern raised by Jason Reinheimer, global head of cereals and pulse research at Limagrain Field Seeds, in this episode of the... Read More

This Ag Policy Connection episode features a wide-ranging conversation with Carlo Dade, Director of International Policy at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, on the future of Canadian agricultural trade amid profound global change. Dade outlines how Canada has entered a period of generational upheaval in international trade, driven by shifting U.S. policy,... Read More

Supply management has long provided price stability and income predictability for Canadian dairy and poultry producers, but its sustainability is under growing pressure. That’s the message from Greg Meredith, a retired senior civil servant who served in both federal and provincial agriculture ministries, in a new episode of the Ag Policy Connection podcast. In this... Read More

Farming has always been a risky business. Regardless of how carefully chosen a variety or fertility rate, Mother Nature always gets the last laugh. Now, with globally-integrated supply chains, market disruptions, and ever-higher stakes for input costs, Canada’s business risk management (BRM) programs are being pushed to evolve. But is the current public delivery model... Read More

After spending the past five episodes exploring what drives decisions around how land is used across Canada, we're looking to the future, highlighting the people and research shaping land-use policy in the next generation. The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute has selected four PhD candidates/doctoral fellows at schools across Canada to develop their skills and expertise… Read More

With farmland under pressure from urban expansion, conservation needs, and economic development, it raises the critical — and contentious — question: who should decide how land is used? Private landowners' rights are essential and rightfully expected in Canada, but there's also an argument to be made that the public has a stake in land-use decisions… Read More

Some parts of the country have seen more success protecting farmland than other regions, but when you add it up, Canada continues to lose an astonishing amount of farmland to urban expansion. The oft-cited statistic from the most recent Census of Agriculture is that Ontario alone loses an average of 319 acres of farmland every… Read More

When it comes to land use, some ways that land provides value are easy to measure and monetize, such as growing crops, raising livestock, or developing real estate. But other types of value, especially those that benefit broader society, like providing biodiversity, wildlife habitat preservation, carbon sequestration, and flood or fire risk mitigation, are much… Read More

Across much of Canada, there have traditionally been very few options for landowners to get paid for the overall value created by land conservation. Whether it's grassland, farmland, or a different form of natural habitat, the broader societal benefits of that land often go unrecognized. Instead, land is converted, sold, and developed for uses that… Read More

Land is a fundamental and finite resource, yet it is easy to overlook its value in our everyday lives. Canada may have an abundance of land, but those acres are under immense pressure to serve multiple purposes—residential and industrial development, food production, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, solar and wind energy generation, recreation, and more. As we… Read More

Hot on the heels of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute's conference on sustainability and agri-food, occasional Ag Policy Connection host, Shaun Haney, sat down with Tyler McCann, managing director of CAPI, Darlene McBain of FCC, and Sara Kate Smith of Clear Strategy, to unpack two days of policy panels, discussion, and insight. In this episode… Read More

A competitive advantage in the business world refers to factors that allow a company to produce goods or services for more value than their rivals. It's when a business is better at making, selling, and ultimately, profiting from a product than their competitors. Canada's agriculture and food sector, as a whole, has a strong story… Read More

Update: Grain workers who were on strike in Vancouver are returning to work as early as Saturday (Sept. 28) morning after reaching a tentative four year deal on Friday evening. Read more here. The timing couldn't be worse for a port strike and the union representing grain workers in the six main grain terminals in... Read More

Developing good ag policy that improves the long-term sustainability of Canadian agriculture — economic, environmental, and social — is a messy process that requires a mix of many things, including engaged stakeholders, good data to inform decisions, and enough people willing to take action and lead with long-term vision. This was clear as we discussed… Read More

Farmers and ranchers face many pressures to farm and raise animals in certain ways to meet sustainability-related goals of others, including food companies, lenders, and government. Clauses in crop contracts, carbon credits, government payments for rotational grazing or using nitrogen loss inhibitors, the federal fertilizer emissions reduction target, clean fuel standards, codes of practice, and&h...

Methane emissions from cattle have received plenty of mainstream attention over the past decade, with calls to eat less beef often not accounting for the carbon sequestration and biodiversity benefits of producing highly-nutritious food on grasslands. The panel in this episode of the Ag Policy Connection ruminates on how environmental policies can help or hinder… Read More