Officials at the Aug. 13, 2020 rollout of the federal surplus food program included (l-r) Julie Marchand of Food Banks of Quebec, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, Claude Dulude of Nutri Group, Marie-Jose Mastromonaco of Second Harvest, Tania Little of Food Banks Canada and Serge Lefebvre of Nutri Group. (Photo courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Feds line up projects for surplus food program

NGOs backed to gather, distribute 12 million kg of food

The federal government has lined up eight projects to source and distribute perishable produce, meat, eggs and seafood piling up across Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the federal pandemic response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in early May that Ottawa would budget $50 million for a food surplus purchase program. The […] Read more

Conditions reported to AAFC’s Canadian Drought Monitor as of July 31, 2020. (Agr.gc.ca)

Most of Prairies to see little rain

MarketsFarm — Warm and dry weather that has generated little precipitation across the Prairies is expected to continue in most areas, aside from southern Manitoba, according to two meteorologists. “Looks like the overall pattern isn’t going to be changing too much,” Scott Kehler of Weatherlogics said. “What you see is what you’re going to get,” […] Read more





A botanist with APHIS’ National Identification Services (NIS) examines the contents of an unsolicited package of seeds under a microscope on July 30, 2020. (Photo courtesy USDA/APHIS)

Unasked-for seed packets considered ‘low-risk’

But don't plant, flush or compost them, CFIA warns

Federal inspectors say the unsolicited packages of seeds that have recently turned up in mailboxes across the country so far look to be “low-risk” — but still advise the public not to plant them. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have both reported […] Read more

Alberta greenhouse grower Whole Leaf is booked to provide lettuce for U.S. burger chain Wendy’s restaurants across Canada. (CNW Group/Wendy’s Restaurants of Canada)

Wendy’s secures Canadian greenhouse lettuce supply

Alberta grower to provide sandwich, salad lettuce nationwide

The Canadian wing of U.S. burger chain Wendy’s is going strictly indoors, in southern Alberta, to supply all the lettuce for its salad, burger and chicken sandwich offerings across the country. Whole Leaf, based outside Coaldale, about 20 km east of Lethbridge, was announced last week as the lettuce supplier for the chain’s 384 stores […] Read more



(TopconPositioning.com)

Brandt closes GeoShack deal, locks up Topcon sales in Canada

Tractor company revives Ontario deal

A deal to make Brandt Tractor the exclusive dealer for Topcon geopositioning equipment clear across Canada has been resuscitated. Regina-based Brandt announced Tuesday it has closed its previously-announced deal to buy the assets of GeoShack Canada — two weeks after Dallas-based GeoShack declared that “a mutually beneficial deal… has not been attained.” GeoShack has been […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario to insure for crop loss due to lack of labour

AgriInsurance offering hailed as a first in Canada

Ontario’s federal/provincial AgriInsurance program has been temporarily expanded to include coronavirus-related labour shortages as a covered cause for crop loss. Producers already enrolled in an eligible production insurance plan and hit by crop losses due to labour disruptions during the 2020 growing season will be able to get further insurance coverage, the Ontario and federal […] Read more

(File photo by Greg Berg)

Newfoundland farmers may shoot problem moose at night

Province to provide permits to qualified farmers

Moose causing crop damage on farms in Newfoundland and Labrador may now be shot by farmers at night under a new special permit system. Farmers dealing with “problem moose” can now apply for permits for night shooting, via provincial agriculture development officers in their areas, the provincial fisheries and land resources department said Thursday. The […] Read more