The processor of the Beatrice and Lactantia milk brands plans to put its fluid milk processing plant in northern Ontario over to plant-based dairy substitutes. The Canadian arm of France’s Lactalis said Wednesday it will stop fluid milk processing and packaging at its plant at Sudbury effective Sept. 30 and convert that plant to a […] Read more
Lactalis to shift from milk to near-milk at Sudbury
Facility to halt fluid milk processing, switch to plant-based product lines
Feds apologize for Saskatchewan farming colony scheme
Apology comes year after settlement with Peepeekisis Cree Nation
Just under a year after Peepeekisis Cree Nation’s settlement with the Canadian government over the File Hills Colony forced farming scheme, the federal government has made a formal apology. Operating from 1898 to 1954, the File Hills Colony scheme involved what the government today describes as the “involuntary relocation” of graduates from residential schools and […] Read more
Agropur cheese plant workers take deal, halt strike
Milk not taken at Granby, Que. plant for over five weeks
Milk delivery to a major cheese plant in Eastern Canada is expected to resume soon as unionized employees at dairy co-operative Agropur’s facility at Granby, Que. end a five-and-a-half-week strike. The plant’s 250-odd workers, represented by the Syndicat des salaries de la fromagerie — an arm of Centrale des syndicats democratiques (CSD) — have voted […] Read more
Direct compensation for fertilizer tariffs not on table
Eastern farm groups call for help ahead of fall seeding
Farmers in Eastern Canada who rely on imports of Russian-made fertilizers aren’t going to see direct compensation for the federal government’s general tariff on those products. A clutch of farmer and ag industry groups on July 15 put forward a new request to Ottawa for compensation to farmers “negatively impacted” by a 35 per cent […] Read more
Ag ministers lock in next policy funding framework
AgriStability compensation rate to rise; new EGS program planned; some agmins decry feds' approach on fertilizer emission cuts
The new federal-provincial ag policy funding framework due to take effect next April 1 will include a new ecological goods and services plan and a sweetened compensation rate for AgriStability. Following meetings this week in Saskatoon, federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her provincial and territorial counterparts on Friday mapped out the bones of their […] Read more
Retailer takes over G3 ag input site
The Rack takes up ag retail business at Plenty, Sask.
A western Saskatchewan ag retail chain has expanded its footprint in that region after closing a deal for a G3 grain elevator’s crop input business. G3 announced Monday it had completed the sale of the ag input business adjacent to its elevator west of Plenty, Sask., to Saskatchewan input and bulk fuel dealer Rack Petroleum, […] Read more
P.E.I. finance minister moves to ag file
Darlene Compton named agriculture minister in shuffle
Prince Edward Island’s deputy premier now handles the provincial agriculture file following a cabinet shuffle Friday. Premier Dennis King has named Darlene Compton, MLA for the riding of Belfast-Murray River, as minister of agriculture and land, justice and public safety minister and attorney general, replacing Stanhope-Marshfield MLA Bloyce Thompson. Thompson, who had handled the ag […] Read more
Feds boost Living Labs’ reach to all provinces
Nine projects, including first-Indigenous led lab, share $54M
The first crop of federally-funded “Living Labs” backed by the Agricultural Climate Solutions (ACS) program, set up to prove carbon-sequestering on-farm processes, takes the concept to the six provinces where such farm-level labs weren’t yet in place. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, speaking Thursday in Calgary, announced $54 million from the $185 million, 10-year ACS program […] Read more
JBS to automate beef warehousing at Brooks
Packer to replace current fully manual system
International meat packer JBS has enlisted a major robotics and automation company to overhaul the warehousing system at one of Canada’s biggest beef plants. JBS Foods Canada on Friday announced a $71 million project in partnership with New Zealand-based Scott Technology, to design and build a system that can handle and store up to 85,000 […] Read more
National cattle producer group rebrands
Former Canadian Cattlemen's Association renamed
Canada’s national beef cattle producer body is rebranding under a slightly shorter new name that serves in part to clear away any potential whiff of a guys-only club. The organization formerly known as the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association on Thursday launched what it describes as a “a new brand identity, highlighting the strong and diverse group […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
