Presents a collection of essays that were published in the American Review of Canadian Studies special theme issue on agriculture and its impact on Canada-US relations. The volume begins with a history of agriculture in the context of the Canada-US relationship. The six subsequent essays focus on the state of contemporary agricultural trade relations, notably in relation to the dramatic growth in Canadian grain, beef, and pork exports since the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement. The first two of these essays examine the grain trade, its economic & legal environment, and the impact of the removal of rail transport subsidies. The third discusses perceptions & reality in state trading in wheat, examining the role of the Canadian Wheat Board and the commercial integration of grain trading companies. The fourth essay evaluates Canadian experience with countervailing and anti-dumping actions taken by the US. This is followed by an essay on the integration & interdependence of the Canadian and US live cattle & beef sectors. The final essay studies pressures and challenges in integrating the Canada-US grains sector.

Cotton, crucial to the economy of the American South, has also played a vital role in the making of the Mexican north. The Lower Rio Bravo (Rio Grande) Valley irrigation zone on the border with Texas in northern Tamaulipas, Mexico, was the centerpiece of the Cardenas government's effort to make cotton the basis of the national economy. This irrigation district, built and settled by Mexican Americans repatriated from Texas, was a central feature of Mexico's effort to control and use the waters of the international river for irrigated agriculture. Drawing on previously unexplored archival sources, Casey Walsh discusses the relations among various groups comprising the "social field" of cotton production in the borderlands. By describing the complex relationships among these groups, Walsh contributes to a clearer understanding of capitalism and the state, of transnational economic forces, of agricultural and water issues in the U.S.-Mexican borderlands, and of the environmental impacts of economic development. Building the Borderlands crosses a number of disciplinary, thematic, and regional frontiers, integrating perspectives and literature from the United States and Mexico, from anthropology and history, and from political, economic, and cultural studies. Walsh's important transnational study will enjoy a wide audience among scholars of Latin American and Western U.S. history, the borderlands, and environmental and agricultural history, as well as anthropologists and others interested in the environment and water rights.

Review of Customs and Border Protection's Agriculture Inspection Activities