Agriculture Roundup for Tuesday September 20, 2022

Sep 21, 2022

MELFORT, Sask. – A rail strike in the United States was averted, much to the relief of the agriculture sector.

Agricultural Retailers Association president Daren Coppock said a strike would have gridlocked commodity supply chains during harvest.

He said farm retailers were already feeling the impact of a potential strike as railroads started to cancel shipments of fertilizer products such as anhydrous ammonia and affecting domestic fertilizer production earlier last week.

A labour deal was brokered by Labour Secretary Marty Walsh who tweeted a deal was reached after roughly 20 hours of talks.Specific details on the agreement were not released. The talks involved 12 unions representing more than 100,000 engineers, conductors, mechanics, and other railroad workers.

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Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.