Ushering in the New Year!

For Canadian agriculture, and more specifically the Canadian meat industry, the promise of lucrative trade with the ratification of the TPP and CETA did not come to pass, thwarted in the quagmire of political upheavals in the U.S and Europe. Add to that mix, we have Trump’s battle cry to gut NAFTA.

This year was a little more sobering than usual from an industry perspective.

From the first weeks of January to the last few days before the eve of ushering in 2017, we’ve lost an inordinate number of our most influential pop icons and that has cast a shadow in what would otherwise be blue skies. David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and Prince’s Purple Rain are now bittersweet songs. Watching Brady Bunch reruns will never be the same without Florence Henderson and boxing is a little less exciting without Muhammad Ali. Who will ever watch a Harry Potter or Die Hard movie and not miss Alan Rickman, or dance around their living room singing George Michael’s Faith without some melancholy. And 2016 will always be the year the force lost it’s princess with Carrie Fisher’s sudden passing this Christmas, and her mother Debbie Reynolds only the day after.

“Is there anything positive to say about 2016?”

For us here at Canadian Meat Business, it was an exceptional year. We changed the look and feel of our magazine and recently launched our new website. You can now read current and past issues on our site and as a result of these changes, we found new readers and connected to global audiences more than ever.

Our popular Q&A series broke new ground as well and Scott Taylor had a great conversation about the past year with Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay.
Read Lawrence’s Q&A here!

We also featured John Church and his breakthrough research with drones and making precision ranching a reality.
Read John’s Q&A!

As well Dennis Laycraft spoke candidly about the inaugural Beef Conference as it surpassed all expectations.
Read Dennis’s Q&A!

Melinda German and Ron Glaser talked with us about the 2016 Check off program and Melinda’s goals for taking on her new role.
Read Melinda and Ron’s Q&A!

We were the first to report the Trump election victory and what it could mean for the meat industry thanks to our regular contributor, Chuck Jolley.
Read Chuck’s Report!

So 2017 is definitely looking like it will be eventful and we are excited to be able to present our news and reports with a fresh new look and we will continue to strive to exceed expectations in the new year!

So from all of us at Canadian Meat Business, have a safe, healthy, prosperous and Happy New Year.

Source: Meatbusiness