Quebec meat packing firm Olymel called off shifts Wednesday at its Beauce-region pork slaughter plant due to potential flood threats. Olymel, the meat processing arm of agrifood co-operative Coop Federee, said it decided to cancel Wednesday’s evening and night shifts at its plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km south of Quebec City, due to concerns […] Read more
Que. flood concerns briefly shut Olymel pork plant
CWB bidding for full ownership of Prairie West Terminal
Western Saskatchewan farmers with shares in grain handler Prairie West Terminal are to vote next month on a $43.23 million cash bid from CWB for the 90 per cent it doesn’t yet own. CWB, the Winnipeg grain company formerly known as the Canadian Wheat Board, announced Thursday it has entered an “arrangement agreement” with PWT […] Read more
Rise in farmland values most pronounced in Sask., Man., Que.
Farm Credit Canada’s annual charting of the ebb and flow of Canada’s farmland values saw price increases ahead of the curve in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec pushing nationwide values to their biggest year-over-year jump in recent history. The federal farm lending agency on Monday released its 2013 Farmland Values report, which tracks variations in bareland […] Read more
ADM set to take full control of Toepfer
U.S. agrifood giant Archer Daniels Midland plans to buy the stake it doesn’t yet own in international grain trading house Toepfer International, and to forge ahead with the sale of its chocolate business, in its latest round of “portfolio management.” ADM, which has owned 80 per cent of Toepfer since 2002, said Tuesday it proposes […] Read more
Kochia becomes Manitoba’s first glyphosate-resistant weed
It’s in just a pair of fields out of over 280 surveyed in the province last fall, but it’s now Manitoba’s first official glyphosate-resistant weed. It’s kochia, and it’s been found in two fields in the Red River Valley. Agronomists had predicted Manitoba’s first cases would be discovered in the province’s west, because glyphosate-resistant kochia […] Read more
CFIA widens plum pox net in Niagara region
The quarantine area is now slightly larger in southern Ontario’s Niagara region where tender fruit trees are still considered at risk for the yield-robbing plum pox virus. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Tuesday it has expanded its regulated area for plum pox virus by 800 metres. The expansion is in response to a confirmed […] Read more
Letnick re-appointed as B.C. ag minister
Former British Columbia agriculture minister Norm Letnick has been re-appointed to the post, replacing Pat Pimm as the latter recovers from cancer surgery. Letnick, the MLA for Kelowna-Lake Country, had served as agriculture minister from 2012 until last May’s provincial election, after which he was dropped from Premier Christy Clark’s cabinet and appointed as parliamentary […] Read more
Federal deputy ag minister retiring, new DM named
One of Canada’s former federal trade negotiators for the North American market is set to become the country’s top agriculture bureaucrat at the end of this month. Andrea Lyon, who from 2009 to 2011 was an associate deputy minister for agriculture and agri-food and has been associate deputy minister of the environment since July 2011, […] Read more
Viterra to boost Vancouver port terminal throughput
Canada’s biggest grain handler plans to take on a $100 million-plus list of “improvements and upgrades” to boost annual throughput at its Pacific Elevators terminal in Vancouver to as much as six million tonnes. “This is a significant investment spanning several projects, that when completed, will enhance our strategic position on the West Coast, and […] Read more
Cargill to boost S. Manitoba grain handling capacity
Cargill’s Canadian arm is set to start work within the next month on capacity expansions at its grain elevator in southern Manitoba’s Red River Valley. The company said Thursday it plans to triple storage capacity and nearly double its rail car spot at its farm service centre on the Canadian National Railway (CN) line at […] Read more
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