Fruit/Vegetables & Production Tips

Manitoba hits record potato yields in 2015

By Julienne Isaacs December 11, 2015

2015 will go down in the books as a record year for potato production in Manitoba. It was an almost charmed season for producers in the province, beginning with an early start to seeding, continuing with low pest pressures and good weather, and ending with excellent conditions for harvest. According to Dan Sawatzky, manager of […] Read more

Storage infections are always a risk for potatoes because they damage relatively easily.

Crops, Potatoes

Potato storage rots likely this winter

Potato farmers storing record 2015 production may need to battle potato rots

By Julienne Isaacs December 11, 2015

This fall might be a tough one for a few Manitoba potato growers battling rots like pink eye, bud-end decay, late blight and leak in storage. Generally, these diseases are present in storages but the levels are not abnormally high, so a caution is warranted. According to Vikram Bisht, Manitoba’s provincial plant pathologist, leak and […] Read more

Crops, Potatoes, Reuters

ConAgra to spin off Lamb Weston potato unit, rebrand

By GFM Network News November 18, 2015

Reuters — ConAgra Foods said it will spin off its Lamb Weston frozen potato products business into a separate public company, the latest in a series of changes announced by the maker of Chef Boyardee pasta and Slim Jim jerky at a time when consumers are shifting to less-processed foods. Lamb Weston will hold ConAgra’s […] Read more

Crops, Fruit/Vegetables

Pete Luckett’s stores to become arm of Sobey’s

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News October 31, 2015

A hero to foodies across Canada is set to sell his retail and wholesale grocery businesses in Nova Scotia off to grocery giant Sobeys. Pete Luckett, the owner of the Pete’s Fine Foods stores in Halifax and Bedford, N.S. and a related wholesale business, announced Thursday he’ll sell those operations to Nova Scotia-based Sobeys for […] Read more

Crops, Fruit/Vegetables, Reuters

Tomato producer Mastronardi said seeking buyer

By GFM Network News October 24, 2015

Reuters — Mastronardi Produce, an Ontario grower and distributor of hothouse tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, is exploring a sale it hopes could value it at as much as $900 million, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter. Privately-held Mastronardi has hired Bank of Montreal (BMO) to run an auction process, the people said […] Read more

Crops, Grapes, Reuters

Bayer expects to compensate grape growers over crop damage

By GFM Network News October 15, 2015

Zurich | Reuters — Bayer expects to pay wine growers compensation starting early next year after vineyards in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland reported 2015 crop damage possibly linked to one of the company’s fungicides. European grape growers reported deformed leaves and lower yields after using Bayer CropScience’s Moon Privilege, also known as […] Read more

Crops, Grapes, Reuters

Treasury Wine to buy Diageo U.K., U.S. wine assets

By Reuters, GFM Network News October 13, 2015

Sydney | Reuters –– Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates, the world’s biggest standalone wine maker, said Wednesday it had agreed to buy most of Diageo Plc’s U.S. and British wine operations for US$552 million (C$716 million). Treasury also announced a fully underwritten rights issue to raise around A$486 million (C$460 million) to fund the acquisition. The […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Canola, Cereals, Crops, Fruit/Vegetables, Hogs, Markets

Dawson: Ag exporters applaud historic TPP deal

By Allan Dawson, GFM Network News October 5, 2015

Export-oriented Canadian farmers are giving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement reached in Atlanta on Monday two thumbs up. The deal, which remains to be debated in Canada’s House of Commons and could take more than a year to be ratified by all 12 member countries, will see tariffs on Canadian products in those markets eliminated […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Canola, Cereals, Dairy Cattle, Fruit/Vegetables, General, Hogs, Markets, Poultry/Eggs

Market access, income supports come with Trans-Pacific pact

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News October 5, 2015

Canada’s federal government has pledged a suite of compensation programs for supply-managed dairy, poultry and egg sectors, against what it promises will be a mousehole in Canada’s tariff wall. Federal officials on Monday confirmed negotiations have concluded on the multilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership, now billed as “the largest, most ambitious free trade initiative in history.” The […] Read more

Enjoying apfelstreuselkuchen  in a café in Berlin.

Apples, Farm Life

In search of apples — anything with apples

This fruit brings back fond memories of growing up on the farm

By Amy Jo Ehman October 2, 2015

In Berlin, I left the hotel early one morning in search of coffee and apples. Anything with apples. Wandering the neighbourhood, I found a sunny little bakery on a leafy street near the Brandenburg Gate. It had a tiny sidewalk patio with four tables and a plethora of potted plants. Best of all, a sign […] Read more

Daily Network News

Southern California honeybees show resistance to varroa mites

Pulse Weekly: SaskPulse optimistic despite input, crop price concerns

Canadian aquaculture should be classed as agriculture, industry groups say

Fruit/Vegetables