(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Canadian Pacific to buy Kansas City Southern in bet on trade

Biggest North American rail deal ever valued at US$25 billion

Reuters — Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) agreed on Sunday to acquire Kansas City Southern in a US$25 billion cash-and-stock deal to create the first railway spanning the United States, Mexico and Canada, standing to benefit from a pickup in trade. It would be the largest ever combination of North American railways by transaction value. It […] Read more

Strip steak with mushrooms. (Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Beef trade gap seen growing as U.K. pact clears Parliament

Interim post-Brexit trade deal gets royal assent

Canada’s beef cattle producers are warning of a growing beef trade deficit, not only between Canada and the European Union but between Canada and the United Kingdom, as a new stopgap U.K. trade pact nears its launch. International Trade Minister Mary Ng on Friday announced Canada is ratifying the Canada-U.K. Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA), after […] Read more


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New quarantine rules lined up for temporary foreign workers

Private transport would allow workers to skip immediate hotel stay

Temporary foreign workers coming to Canada for work in the farming or food processing sectors might not have to immediately check into government-approved hotels for COVID-19 quarantines along with other arriving travellers. The federal government on Tuesday announced new rules for TFWs taking effect starting Sunday (March 21). Like other arrivals, TFWs will still be […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

Farmland appreciation continues through pandemic year

FCC report puts Canada's average land value increase at 5.4 per cent

Economic churn across Canada from the global COVID-19 pandemic didn’t faze the country’s real estate market — nor its farmland market in particular — in 2020, according to the latest review from the federal farm lending agency. Farm Credit Canada on Monday released its 2020 Farmland Values report, showing an average increase of 5.4 per […] Read more

A Western blot analysis, used to detect specific proteins in tissue samples, is used to confirm BSE in cattle. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Canada clears step toward ‘negligible risk’ BSE status

OIE delegates to vote in late May, CFIA says

The international committee that reviews countries’ requests for animal health status on specific diseases has called for Canada to level up on its status for BSE. The Scientific Commission of the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health), which last met virtually over Feb. 1-12, has recommended to OIE delegates that Canada’s application seeking “negligible risk” […] Read more


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Pulse weekly outlook: Turkey’s record-level lentil imports expected to decrease

Country's domestic acreage expected up in 2021

MarketsFarm — Canadian lentil exports to Turkey reached unprecedented numbers in 2020. According to Statistics Canada data, Turkey imported 534,160 tonnes worth $355 million during the calendar year, making it the second-largest buyer of Canadian lentils behind India. Last year’s total nearly equalled the amount of lentils Canada exported to Turkey over the previous three […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Canada’s year-end cattle herd continues shrinking

Slaughter beat pre-pandemic pace in second half, StatsCan says

Year-over-year contraction continued for Canada’s cattle herd at the start of 2021, while newborn piglet counts kept Canada’s hog herd on the rise during the same period, according to Statistics Canada. StatsCan on Monday reported 11.2 million cattle on Canadian farms at Jan, 1, 2021 — down one per cent from the year-earlier date and […] Read more


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Dairy farmers asked to pass on palm byproducts in rations, for now

Seek out other ingredients while hard-butter issue under review, DFC asks

Canadian dairy farmers whose feed rations include supplements made with palm byproducts are being asked to consider other options while consumer complaints over butter are probed more closely. Dairy Farmers of Canada on Thursday asked its farmer members to “consider alternatives to palm supplements” pending the outcome of a review of “issues that have been […] Read more

Incoming WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala takes part in an online meeting before speaking during an interview with Reuters in Potomac, Maryland on Feb. 15, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Joshua Roberts)

Canada hails new WTO chief

Trade body names first African, and first female, DG

Canada is lending its support to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) choice for its new director general. Ngorzi Okonjo-Iweala was chosen Feb. 15 by WTO members as the international trade body’s new head, making her the first woman and the first African to serve in the role. Mary Ng, Canada’s minister of small business, export […] Read more