Quebec’s incumbent agriculture, food and fisheries minister will be returning to the province’s legislature as part of an even larger government caucus. Preliminary results in Monday’s provincial election put Francois Legault’s Coalition avenir Quebec (CAQ) in a solid majority government position with 90 of 125 seats, followed by Dominique Anglade’s Liberals, remaining in official opposition […] Read more
Quebec ag minister cruises to re-election
Legault's CAQ scores bigger second majority
Dairy commission fills board vacancy
Green tech CEO named to commissioner spot on CDC board
Concerns that the Canadian Dairy Commission could be caught short at its board table have been resolved with a new appointment to a vacant commissioner’s chair. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Sept. 27 announced Shikha Jain will be the CDC’s commissioner for a four-year term effective Sept. 15. Jain, who lives at Guelph, is […] Read more
Pot producer Canopy Growth to shed retail stores
Company working on 'path to profitability'
In full cost-cutting mode, Canadian cannabis producer Canopy Growth Corp. is set to shed a significant chunk of its vertical integration model by selling off the retail pot shops it owns across the country. Smiths Falls, Ont.-based Canopy announced Sept. 27 it has an agreement in place with OEG Retail Cannabis — already the owner/operators […] Read more
Saskatchewan, Ontario ban birds at events
Bans back on as fall migratory season underway, avian flu cases stack up
At least two provinces now have bans in place on birds being brought to fall ag fairs and other such events, as cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza pick up again in Canada’s domestic birds. Ontario — which had such a ban in place this spring — reinstated it effective Sept. 23 through to Oct. […] Read more
Saskatchewan, Manitoba to boost vet college seat quotas
Each province adding five subsidized seats at WCVM
Updated, Sept. 30 — With livestock producers’ needs at top of mind, 10 more student seats at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan will be spoken for starting next year. The college and the Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments on Thursday announced the two provinces will each step up their funding […] Read more
Manitoba to cut Crown forage lease rates
Previous years' forage conditions a factor, province says
The rents paid by Manitoba producers using Crown lands to produce perennial forages will be cut in half next year and by smaller amounts the following two years. Provincial Ag Minister Derek Johnson on Wednesday announced the forage lease rent on agricultural Crown land will be reduced by 50 per cent in 2023, 33 per […] Read more
B.C. to back Indigenous food system projects
New program taking applications starting Monday
A new British Columbia program will provide up to $80,000 each for projects in agriculture, food processing or other sectors to improve food security in that province’s Indigenous communities. The province on Wednesday rolled out a new Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program, which is set up to take applications starting Monday (Sept. 26) […] Read more
Sollio to exit southwestern Ontario grain handling
Country elevator assets to be sold after harvest, co-op to focus on ag retail
One of Canada’s biggest ag co-operatives is moving ahead on plans to “optimize assets” by shedding its stake in grain handling in southwestern Ontario and focusing more closely on retail ag inputs. Sollio Agriculture, the agribusiness arm of Quebec-based Sollio Cooperative Group, on Tuesday announced it will start “an orderly wind-down” of its Ontario Grain […] Read more
Avian flu returns to southwestern Ontario
More cases also turn up in western provinces
Highly pathogenic avian influenza has circled back to Ontario for the first time in four months with an outbreak in a commercial poultry flock in Oxford County. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Friday confirmed the outbreak at a farm in the township of Zorra, about 20 km east of London. Details on the […] Read more
Avian flu circles back in Western Canada
All western provinces book new cases in commercial birds
A relatively quiet summer for highly pathogenic avian influenza in Canada has turned for the worse, with outbreaks on commercial poultry farms in all four western provinces in the past week alone. Cases of high-path avian flu in domestic birds in Canada confirmed and reported by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency since Aug. 31 include: […] Read more
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