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Non-Traditional Factors Impacting Grain Markets

There are a number of non-traditional factors at play in the grain markets which is causing a lot of volatility for the agriculture sector.

Jon Driedger, vice-president of LeftField Commodity Research, says external influences have an enormous impact like the coronavirus and its impact, and of course the ongoing trade challenges globally.

"It doesn't mean that the world will just stop trading tomorrow but certainly there's less of an appetite towards more free open trade and more of a tendency towards putting on tariffs, protecting the domestic markets and so forth," he said. "Agriculture is an exporting industry, particularly for us in western Canada, so certainly we feel that."

Canada has a number of ongoing challenges including the dispute with China over canola and with India over pulses.

He notes it’s a larger global trend with Brexit or the trade war between the U.S. and China.

 

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Sweetener Effects on Gut Health - Dr. Kwangwook Kim

Video: Sweetener Effects on Gut Health - Dr. Kwangwook Kim



In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Kwangwook Kim, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, discusses the use of non-nutritive sweeteners in nursery pig diets. He explains how sucralose and neotame influence feed intake, gut health, metabolism, and the frequency of diarrhea compared to antibiotics. The conversation highlights mechanisms beyond palatability, including hormone signaling and nutrient transport. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Receptors responsible for sweet taste are present not only in the mouth but also along the intestinal tract.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Kwangwook Kim / kwangwook-kim is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, specializing in swine nutrition and feed additives under disease challenge models. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of California, Davis, where he focused on intestinal health and metabolic responses in pigs. His research evaluates alternatives to antibiotics, targeting gut health and performance in nursery pigs.