Turkeys. (Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Second southwestern Ontario farm hit with avian flu

Separate H5N1 strains hit separate turkey farms

A second turkey operation in southwestern Ontario has been confirmed and quarantined with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza — but of a strain separate from the one seen in an outbreak in the same region a day earlier. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a statement Monday its National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease […] Read more

File photo of a U.S. veterinary medical officer examining tissue samples for avian influenza virus. (Suzanne Deblois photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

High-path avian flu drops into southwestern Ontario

H5N1 confirmed on poultry farm

Ontario’s feather sector is moving to a “heightened biosecurity advisory” after highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed this weekend in a poultry flock. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday it had confirmed high-path H5N1 in a flock in southern Ontario, a day after the Ontario Feather Board Command Centre (FBCC) published a report of […] Read more


Concept art for the rear view of a Ram electric truck. (Ramtruck.ca)

Stellantis’ battery plans take shape in Italy, Canada

LG and Stellantis set up j.v. for Windsor gigafactory

Milan/Ottawa | Reuters — Stellantis took significant steps in its battery production plans in Europe and North America on Wednesday as carmakers race to meet rising demand for electric vehicles. The maker of Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Fiat and Jeep vehicles said its Automotive Cells Co. (ACC) joint venture with Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies would build a […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Rate of rise in farmland value ‘surprised’ in 2021

Canada books 8.3 per cent year-over-year increase, FCC reports

MarketsFarm — Despite a year of economic uncertainty due to extreme weather, reduced crop yields and the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of Canadian farmland rose by its highest rate in four years, according to a report from Farm Credit Canada (FCC). FCC’s report, released Monday, revealed that the national average value of farmland increased by […] Read more


A man and a child ride away from a protest site at Windsor, Ont. on Feb. 12, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Carlos Osorio)

Windsor-Detroit trade corridor reopens after police clear protesters

Prairie premiers oppose use of Emergencies Act

Windsor/Washington/Ottawa | Reuters — North America’s busiest trade link reopened for traffic late Sunday evening, ending a six-day blockade, the Canada Border Services Agency said, after Canadian police cleared the protesters fighting to end COVID-19 restrictions. Canadian police made several arrests on Sunday and cleared protesters and vehicles that occupied the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, […] Read more

File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario to extend labour-related crop loss coverage

Losses due to COVID-19-related labour disruptions covered

A temporary crop insurance expansion that covers Ontario farms against crop losses due to “on-farm labour disruptions” caused by COVID-19 will be held over for yet another year. Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, announced in late December the feature first introduced in 2020 will be included again in 2022, at the same coverage […] Read more


(Firehouse Subs/BusinessWire)

Tim Hortons parent to buy Firehouse Subs as other brands drag

Chain's comparable year-to-date sales up 20 per cent against pre-pandemic levels

Reuters — Tim Hortons parent Restaurant Brands International said Monday it will buy sandwich chain Firehouse Subs for US$1 billion, at a time when its popular brands are struggling due to increased competition from rivals launching new menu items. Analysts have said fried chicken sandwich pioneer Popeyes, owned by RBI, has been hurt by McDonald’s […] Read more



A group of wild boars running in Europe, where the pigs have caused challenges with disease spread. (iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario moves to phase out wild boar farming

Province, feds fund swine fever defense plans

Hoping to improve its odds against African swine fever ever getting a toehold in Canada’s hog herds, Ontario plans to regulate Eurasian wild boar as an invasive species starting in the new year. To that end, the province is making funding available to farmers who actively breed and raise wild boar to “shift to other […] Read more

Sea surface temperature anomalies over the Pacific Ocean in degrees Celsius for the week centred on Oct. 13, 2021. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

Another La Nina winter predicted

Polar vortex to chill Prairies, more snow further east, AccuWeather says

Data compiled by a U.S. federal weather forecasting agency show La Nina conditions have developed over the central Pacific Ocean and are likely to linger through February. And La Nina, in turn, is expected to produce hard cold snaps over the Prairies, above-normal precipitation over southern British Columbia and relatively mild temperatures with more snow […] Read more