General

A re-elected Conservative federal government will put up $500 million over four years to work with Canada’s provinces on an “agricultural flexibility” program, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Thursday. A federal/provincial flexibility program will deliver “region-specific programs that help farm families cope with the costs of production pressures, promote innovation, ensure environmental sustainability, and respond […] Read more

The Western Climate Initiative, in its proposed design for a regional cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gases, will look seriously at including agricultural offsets — which in turn could allow farmers in several provinces to provide carbon credits to the program. The WCI’s partner jurisdictions include the governments of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec […] Read more

A $564 million “regional flexibility fund” for farm programming is among the promises on offer from the federal Liberals leading up to next month’s election. Liberal leader Stephane Dion and members of the Liberal caucus and candidates’ roster appeared Friday morning at a farm at Headingley, Man., just west of Winnipeg, to outline their plans […] Read more

Employees of Farm Credit Canada will go national this year with their annual drive to collect food and donations for rural food banks. The program, called Drive Away Hunger, expands this year from a collection of regional tour events to a drive to collect food and cash donations in every FCC field office across Canada. […] Read more

Even as prices rise for ag products and production growth slows, Canada’s food makers are expected to show steady growth in profits over the next four years, according to the Conference Board of Canada. The Ottawa-based think tank on Thursday released its industrial outlook for the food manufacturing industry, predicting that after two years of […] Read more

Almost half of all Canadian farmers have at least once donated some of their production to a local or international food bank organization, a new poll reports. The poll, conducted by Ipsos Forward Research with 1,048 farmers in early May this year, found 46 per cent of respondents have donated a portion of production. Of […] Read more

The federal Conservatives’ pledge Tuesday to cut Ottawa’s excise tax on diesel fuel drew kudos from railways as a move that will help exporters compete internationally. Party leader Stephen Harper said a re-elected Conservative government will cut the federal excise tax on diesel from four cents per litre down to its 1985-86 level of two […] Read more