Canadian ginseng, whose shipments to Hong Kong have plummeted since COVID-19 infections peaked in Canada this spring and travel restrictions took effect, is seen in southwestern Ontario’s Norfolk County in this undated photograph. (Handout photo courtesy Helen Mels via Reuters)

Ginseng piling up in Canada despite Chinese demand

Travel restrictions depress new-crop sales

Winnipeg/Hong Kong | Reuters — The pandemic’s crushing effect on international travel has grounded Canadian exports of ginseng, a root widely used in Asia to treat everything from the common cold to impotency, at a time when health is top of consumers’ minds. Canada is the world’s second-largest ginseng exporter after China, with most of […] Read more

Roquette’s plant-based protein products include Nutralys T70S, billed as a plant-based, texturized protein that “guarantees a unique fibrous texture and great use adaptable to several types of meat substitute” such as burger patties, chicken-type filets and sausage. (Roquette.com)

Plant-based protein maker Roquette sees short-term COVID-19 impact

Demand could accelerate second Canadian plant

Paris | Reuters — The plant-based protein market has seen a slowdown in new product launches and lower sales in restaurants and cafeterias due to COVID-19 but benefited from more people cooking at home and trying new products, French manufacturer Roquette said. The market for plant-based protein such as meat-free burgers has surged in the […] Read more


The Canadian food industry used to be split at around 70 per cent retail and 30 per cent food service and institutional. Today the split is closer to 90 and 10 per cent, respectively, says Peter Chapman.


How have the value chain and consumers changed – and will it affect your marketing plans?

Be prepared for greater volatility and disruptions to markets, spend more time on business management practices and take a wider view of consumer behaviours and the value chain

Most market analysts and farm advisors agree that farmers shouldn’t change their overall marketing plans over the next 12 months specifically because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential future effects on trade and global economies. That said, this is without doubt a year unlike any other, and to be prepared for the possibility of […] Read more

Numbers show a farm accident or injury could happen to you

Numbers show a farm accident or injury could happen to you

Tips to keep you and your family safe at harvest

One of the major contributors to farm accidents is stress. And so, we at AgSafe Alberta are worried right now. Not only has this been an unusually stressful year for farmers, we are also now heading into one of the busiest and intense periods for grain farms — harvest. Why it matters: Harvest is an […] Read more


Your marketing plan and COVID-19

Your marketing plan and COVID-19

Should farmers change their marketing strategies because of the pandemic or stay the course?

As another year’s crop will soon fill their bins, should farmers change their marketing strategies because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or do they maintain the same course they had planned out for this winter? “COVID-19 has had some impacts on the markets, but it hasn’t really been that much for grains and […] Read more



Gov. Gen. Julie Payette looks on with Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance (l) and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the Usher of the Black Rod Greg Peters leaves to summon the House of Commons to come listen to the throne speech in the Senate chamber in Ottawa on Sept. 23, 2020. (Adrian Wyld pool photo via Reuters)

Throne speech commits to rural broadband improvement

Rural health care, water management also on deck

The federal minority Liberal government is promising job creation, better rural internet access and a commitment to combating climate change in its newly revealed legislative plans. In an ambitious throne speech delivered Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party committed itself to implementing universal child care and extending or enhancing many of the economic measures put […] Read more

CBOT December 2020 wheat with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat, soy, corn fall sharply on fund selling

'It is basically risk-off across the board'

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean, corn and wheat futures plunged on Monday as concerns about fresh coronavirus-driven lockdowns due to rising global case counts sparked a wave of risk-off trades. The grains, led by a 3.7 per cent drop in wheat that marked its biggest daily percentage decline since August 2019, […] Read more


Farmers are faced with more complex challenges than ever before.

How can you prepare your farm for the post-COVID future?

Three actions you can take to prepare for the new reality

Over the last decade, Canada’s agriculture industry has navigated changing consumer behaviours, adverse weather, globalization and trade challenges, digital innovation, and a shift in workforce demographics and labour supply. These forces of change have already been reshaping the industry and the conversations around it. In our report, Farmer 4.0: How the Coming Skills Revolution can […] Read more

(SCIC.ca)

Saskatchewan extends WLPIP premium rebate if needed

Rebate to offset premium prices, if above pre-COVID levels

Saskatchewan’s temporary subsidy against price jumps in premiums for the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP) will continue when needed to the end of 2020. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. (SCIC), which administers the program in that province, announced Tuesday the WLPIP premium rebate is extended to Dec. 31, from its previous end date of Sept. […] Read more