pandemic Archives - Page 11 of 20

The United Nations’ General Assembly Hall in Manhattan. (BWZenith/iStock/Getty Images)

World Food Program seeking billions within six months to avert famine

Pandemic may double hunger worldwide, agency says

By GFM Network News October 14, 2020

London | Reuters — The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will need to raise US$6.8 billion over the next six months to avert famine amid the COVID-19 crisis, the agency said on Tuesday. The WFP, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for its efforts to prevent the use of hunger as […] Read more

File photo of a quality control check on fresh peppers in a Canadian vegetable packing plant. (Jeffbergen/E+Getty Images)

General, Machinery

Federal program to protect farms, workers from COVID-19 underway

'Highest-risk' farming operations to get priority, Bibeau says

By GFM Network News October 5, 2020

Applications are now open for a federally-administered $35 million emergency on-farm support fund to help limit the impacts of COVID-19 on farms and on-farm workers. Aimed at farm workplaces and employee living quarters, the fund is being managed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), but cost-shared with participating producers at a 50-50 level. Money is […] Read more

General, Markets

Canada to keep U.S. border curbs until pandemic much less serious

By GFM Network News October 3, 2020

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will maintain restrictions on non-essential travel with the United States until the coronavirus outbreak in both nations is much less serious, a senior government official said on Friday. The comments by federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair suggest that the ban on non-essential travel could stay for months to come, […] Read more

File photo of a Conagra production facility at Oakdale, Calif., about 150 km east of San Francisco, on Dec, 18, 2015. (Photo: Reuters/Fred Greaves)

Crops, Reuters

Food retail order boom may ease after big quarter, Conagra says

By Reuters, GFM Network News October 1, 2020

Reuters — Conagra Brands put better-than-expected first quarter sales on Thursday down to heavy ordering by retailers worried about the durability of supply chains in the months ahead as a second wave of coronavirus cases takes hold. Shares in the foodstuffs maker dipped as much as three per cent before recovering after chief financial officer […] Read more

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)

Crops, Reuters

Ginseng piling up in Canada despite Chinese demand

Travel restrictions depress new-crop sales

By Rod Nickel, GFM Network News September 30, 2020

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)

Crops, Markets, Peas, Reuters

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

Demand could accelerate second Canadian plant

By GFM Network News September 30, 2020

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

Beef Cattle, Livestock, Markets

Saskatchewan extends WLPIP premium rebate if needed

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

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News September 3, 2020

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

Riding Mountain National Park in western Manitoba. (Mysticenergy/E+/Getty Images)

Columns

Toban Dyck: Tread the COVID-19 landscape with sensitivity

It’s a challenge to process the news and identify how our fears and prejudices influence our positions

By Toban Dyck August 26, 2020

I check my crops nearly every morning. I didn’t do that last year or any year since I have been back on the farm. I regularly communicate with my father about what’s happening on the farm on any given day. I didn’t do that last year, either. I have spent an unprecedented amount of time […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock

Olymel’s Red Deer plant holds at one COVID case

Pork plant employee's contacts returning to work

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News August 21, 2020

A production line employee at Olymel’s hog slaughter plant at Red Deer, Alta. remains the facility’s lone COVID-19 case after her contacts at the plant tested negative for the virus, the company says. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec ag co-operative Sollio, confirmed the lone COVID-19 case at its Red Deer site on Aug. […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock

Brandon pork plant’s exports to China suspended

Chinese protocols call for temporary pause, Maple Leaf says

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News August 19, 2020

New Chinese rules for exporters and a number of COVID-19 cases among its workers have led Maple Leaf Foods to temporarily halt pork traffic to China from its biggest hog plant. The company said Tuesday it has “temporarily suspended pork exports to China on a voluntary basis due to recent protocols adopted by the Chinese […] Read more

Bird flu virus could be airborne: study

Saskatchewan Crop Report: Varied precipitation as harvest begins

U.S. grains: Wheat, soy and corn bounce off lows as demand stirs

GFM Network News