Over a dozen “indie” farm input retailers on the Prairies plan to centralize their purchasing using a model developed by Australians in the same line of work. The group of 14 independent Prairie ag input dealers on Sept. 15 announced a new organization, AgLink Canada, a buying group formed “in response to the growing global […] Read more
Independent ag retailers team up for group buying
Prairie canola, soy now in Cargill ProPricing portfolio
Canola and soybean growers in Western Canada are now able to get in on Cargill’s ProPricing grain marketing program for the 2017-18 season. The U.S. agrifood company’s Winnipeg-based Canadian arm announced Sept. 14 it would offer its first-ever canola contract in its ProPricing portfolio, allowing eligible growers to hand off a portion of their canola […] Read more
Post-secondary cannabis credentials on offer
Degree and diploma aggies interested in producing commercial cannabis and/or hemp will be able to get college-certified starting next year. Niagara College announced Tuesday it will launch a graduate certificate program in commercial cannabis production in 2018, a program it bills as Canada’s “first post-secondary credential” in the crop’s production. Niagara picked up approval this […] Read more
Manitoba NDP names new ag critic
Manitoba’s former education minister has been pressed into service as the new agriculture critic for the provincial legislature’s official opposition. Wab Kinew, who was elected Saturday as the leader of the opposition New Democrats, on Thursday named James Allum, the MLA for the Winnipeg riding of Fort Garry-Riverview, as the critic for agriculture. Allum will […] Read more
U.S. organic grain firm buys Saskatchewan elevators
A Minneapolis-based startup focused on non-GMO and organic grains has bought itself elevator space to source those crops out of southern Saskatchewan. Pipeline Foods on Wednesday announced it has bought small elevators at Wapella, about 130 km south of Yorkton, and at Gull Lake, about 50 km southwest of Swift Current, for an undisclosed sum. […] Read more
Partially hydrogenated oils on the way out
The federal government has served a year’s notice on partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) as ingredients in foods sold in Canada. Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor announced Friday that PHOs will be added to Canada’s List of Contaminants and Other Adulterating Substances effective Sept. 15, 2018, giving Canadian food processors and importers “enough time to find […] Read more
Alberta, feds back Lethbridge potato processing plant
The federal and Alberta governments are set to cover over $22 million in costs related to the construction of Cavendish Farms’ new potato processing plant at Lethbridge. The two levels of government on Monday announced $20 million for the City of Lethbridge for related municipal infrastructure developments, through the federal/provincial Clean Water and Wastewater Fund […] Read more
Film director Cameron backing Saskatchewan organic pea plant
A major new pulse plant has set up shop southwest of Saskatoon with plans to help back development of pulse-based foods and mentor organic growers — and bringing with it a pair of unusually high-profile investors. Verdient Foods on Monday announced the opening of a pulse food processing plant at Vanscoy, Sask., with plans for […] Read more
UFA to shut down outdoor outfitter business
Alberta farmers’ co-operative UFA is set to get out of an “increasingly competitive” space in the retail sector by closing its outdoor supply chain Wholesale Sports. The co-operative, which bought what was then a seven-store chain in 2008, announced Thursday it would start inventory liquidation sales Friday at all 12 of its remaining Wholesale Sports […] Read more
Prairie pork industry leader Bill Vaags, 82
UPDATED, Sept. 15 — A memorial service is planned for Sept. 19 in Winnipeg for a prominent Prairie figure in the business of promoting and securing export markets for Canadian pork. Bill Vaags, a pork producer at Dugald, Man. who led the Canadian Pork Council from 1985 to 1990 and chaired Canada Pork International from […] Read more
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