A dairy producer from the Centre-du-Quebec region is being promoted to the head of the board table at dairy co-operative Agropur. Rene Moreau, who farms south of Victoriaville at Warwick, Que., was announced Friday as Agropur’s new president, replacing Serge Riendeau, who led the board for the past 15 years. Moreau, one of Agropur’s vice-presidents […] Read more
Agropur co-op names new chief
U.S. soy grower co-op plans North Dakota crush plant
A U.S. soybean growers’ co-operative has picked its site for what it says would be the first soybean processing plant of its kind in North Dakota. Minnesota Soybean Processors and its North Dakota Soybean Processors (NDSP) subsidiary announced Tuesday their site will be on 150 acres near Spiritwood, N.D., 260 km south of the Manitoba […] Read more
Saskatchewan snowpack points to below-normal runoff
Thanks to above-normal temperatures that drew down much of Saskatchewan’s snowpack in January, the province now sees “below normal runoff potential” in most areas outside the southeast. Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency on Thursday released its 2017 preliminary outlook for spring runoff, noting the province has another six to 10 weeks of possible snowpack development. The […] Read more
Agropur raises 2016 sales, patronage dividends
Acquisitions and cost-cutting have combined to boost dairy co-operative Agropur’s year-end bottom line — and to raise its total patronage dividends for the year by 50 per cent. The Quebec co-operative, which in 2016 landed on Rabobank’s list of the world’s 20 largest dairy companies for the first time, booked net earnings before patronage and […] Read more
Ontario backs feed processing at Cargill beef plant
Ontario’s provincial government plans to put up over half a million dollars for Cargill to process byproducts from its Guelph beef plant for feed. Provincial Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal on Wednesday announced a $582,000 investment toward Cargill’s installation of a “value-added” processing system converting raw byproduct into a “protein-rich animal feed ingredient.” The “leading-edge technological […] Read more
Pizza chains expand antibiotic-free meat market
Canadian pizza chains Pizza Nova and Pizza Pizza are both staking out further space in the chain dining market for meats from livestock raised without antibiotics. Toronto-based Pizza Pizza on Jan. 23 announced it would source all chicken products on its menu from birds raised without the use of antibiotics, effective immediately. The company’s pledge […] Read more
More BSE tests, no BSE seen in 2016
Canadian beef cattle producers handed over more samples in 2016 than in 2015 to be tested for BSE, turning up zero cases of the brain-wasting disease. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association on Monday reported 27,346 samples were submitted to the national BSE surveillance program in 2016 — up four per cent from 26,285 in 2015, but […] Read more
Quebec’s winter trails to remain open as tax reform halted
Snowmobile trails going through farmland owned by members of Quebec’s Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) will remain open as the province hits the brakes on changes to its farmland property tax credit plan. UPA members had recently pledged to revoke previously-permitted access to their land for snowmobile trails starting Monday (Feb. 6) in a dispute […] Read more
Bovine TB probe’s focus turns to infected herd
With no new cases of bovine tuberculosis discovered on the Prairies since mid-November, federal officials are now turning their focus to how the disease got into half a dozen cattle in the region last fall. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday it has finished TB-screening and depopulating all mature cattle from 18 properties that […] Read more
Quebec farmers to shut snowmobile trails in tax dispute
Members of Quebec’s general farm organization plan to revoke permission for snowmobilers to use their land starting Monday, in protest over the province’s planned reforms to its farmland property tax credit. L’Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) said Wednesday it had been planning such a move in late 2016 but on Dec. 20 had asked members […] Read more
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