The Alberta government’s ban on imports of wine from British Columbia is poised to be the first case challenged under the new interprovincial Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). The British Columbia government announced Monday it will formally challenge the Alberta ban through the CFTA dispute settlement process. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley on Feb. 6 ordered […] Read more
B.C. plans trade challenge of Alberta’s wine ban
Simplot to supersize Portage la Prairie fry plant
U.S. agrifood giant J.R. Simplot plans to bulk up its potato processing footprint in southern Manitoba with a $460 million plant expansion. The company and the provincial government on Wednesday announced construction will begin this spring on a 280,000-square foot expansion at its 180,000-square foot french fry processing plant at Portage la Prairie. The expansion, […] Read more
Early canola promoter Gordon Graham, 89
A memorial is to be held in June in Brandon for a Prairie farmer who helped lead the charge on adoption of rapeseed as a crop, as it morphed into today’s canola. Gordon Graham, who farmed near Newdale, Man., about 75 km north of Brandon, died Wednesday at age 89 in Cochrane, Alta. Graham, an […] Read more
All quarantines lifted in bovine TB probe
The mystery of how six Prairie cattle caught a Mexican strain of bovine tuberculosis (TB) is now expected to remain a mystery indefinitely. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday announced quarantines have been lifted from all Prairie cattle operations tested during its probe of a bovine TB outbreak beginning in the fall of 2016. […] Read more
Farmers encouraged to make Agriculture Day meme-able
Canada’s farmers are being urged to make closer connections with the country’s non-farming consumers, in both the real world and cyberspace, as Canada’s Agriculture Day nears. Spearheaded by the year-round industry-backed initiative Agriculture More Than Ever, Canada’s Agriculture Day is set this year for Tuesday (Feb. 13). “It’s a time to showcase all of the […] Read more
Market shifts, weather push back Food Freedom Day
Food Freedom Day, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s bellwether of affordability for food in Canada, is a day later in 2018. The CFA on Wednesday announced that by its calculations, a Canadian household of average income has earned enough to pay an entire year’s grocery bill on Friday, Feb. 9. Canadians spent 11 per cent […] Read more
Dairy sector wary of proposed food label policy
Canadian consumers are being asked to weigh in on proposed new front-of-pack warnings for foods high in saturated fats, sugars and sodium, starting this weekend. And while whole milk would get a pass from such a plan, Canada’s dairy farmer organization fears many other dairy products would wind up wearing such warnings, thus “alarming” consumers. […] Read more
Saskatchewan, B.C. areas up for livestock tax deferrals
Livestock producers in several more parched municipalities in Saskatchewan and British Columbia will be able to defer income from sales of animals on their 2017 tax returns. The federal government on Tuesday announced its final list of designated regions for 2017, including 20 more municipalities in Saskatchewan and seven in British Columbia. The initial list, […] Read more
Ocean Spray to buy Quebec cranberry processor
Quebec cranberry processor Atoka Cranberries is set to become an arm of the U.S.-based cranberry grower co-op Ocean Spray. Massachussetts-based Ocean Spray on Friday announced it would buy the Atoka processing plant at Manseau, Que., about 70 km east of Trois-Rivieres, along with the Atoka brand from berry producer Canneberges Bieler. Financial terms of the […] Read more
Canola biodiesel processor in receivership
An eastern Saskatchewan biodiesel processor using growers’ heated, green, spring-harvested, tough and otherwise off-spec canola for feedstock is in receivership. Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench on Thursday appointed Calgary-based insolvency trustee Hardie and Kelly as the receiver for Milligan Biofuels, which operates at Foam Lake, about 90 km northwest of Yorkton. Alberta’s Crown lending agency […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
