pandemic Archives - Page 12 of 20

Red Deer hog plant books first COVID case

One employee confirmed with virus, 13 isolating as precaution, company says

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News August 19, 2020

A major Prairie hog slaughter and processing plant relatively untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic has marked its first case of the coronavirus in a production line worker. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec ag co-operative Sollio, said an employee who reported for work Monday last week at its Red Deer, Alta. plant began showing […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Hogs, Livestock, Reuters

JBS to resume U.S. share listing plan after COVID-19 fallout

Management looking also for US$100 million in cost cuts

By GFM Network News August 15, 2020

Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazil’s JBS SA is reviving plans to list shares on Wall Street after dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic’s fallout, CEO Gilberto Tomazoni said on Friday, as the world’s largest meatpacker reported strong quarterly results. Speaking on a conference call with analysts following the company’s second-quarter results, Tomazoni said the focus […] Read more

Crops, Fruit/Vegetables

Ontario to insure for crop loss due to lack of labour

AgriInsurance offering hailed as a first in Canada

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News July 10, 2020

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

Green lentils. (Savany/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Lentils, Markets

Pulse weekly outlook: Lentil prices off pandemic peak

By MarketsFarm Team, GFM Network News July 8, 2020

MarketsFarm — Lentil prices received a bit of a bump earlier in the year from peak pandemic panic-buying, but have subsided in recent weeks. “At the beginning, a lot of people were buying, which led to a spike in prices,” explained Marcos Mosnaim of Globeways Canada in Mississauga. “That scarcity has come down a lot.” […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock, Reuters

G4 swine flu virus not new, China says

Ag ministry says virus does not infect or sicken humans, animals easily

By Reuters, GFM Network News July 7, 2020

Shanghai/Beijing | Reuters — China’s ministry of agriculture and rural affairs said Saturday that the so-called “G4” strain of swine flu virus is not new and does not infect or sicken humans and animals easily, rebuffing a study published last week. That study, by a team of Chinese scientists and published by the U.S. journal […] Read more

File photo of piglets at a hog operation in China. (KuLouKu/iStock/Getty Images)

Hogs, Livestock, Reuters

Chinese researchers warn of new virus in pigs with human pandemic risk

By Reuters, GFM Network News June 30, 2020

Shanghai | Reuters — A new flu virus found in Chinese pigs has become more infectious to humans and needs to be watched closely in case it becomes a potential “pandemic virus,” a study said, although experts said there is no imminent threat. A team of Chinese researchers looked at influenza viruses found in pigs […] Read more

Layne Chantler of Alliston, Ont. brought this show heifer to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in 2019. (Farmtario photo by Jennifer Glenney)

Livestock

Royal Agricultural Winter Fair cancelled for 2020

Near-century-old annual ag showcase put off to 2021

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News June 25, 2020

Two years shy of its 100th anniversary, Toronto’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair has been called off for 2020. Organizers said Wednesday the event, which was scheduled for Nov. 6-15 at Toronto’s Exhibition Place, has been cancelled “due to our ongoing concern regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.” First held in 1922, spearheaded by Ontario cattle producer W.A. […] Read more

Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. senators question packers over exports to China during pandemic

USDA shows record pork exports to China in April, raising questions about rising U.S. meat prices

By Tom Polansek, GFM Network News June 25, 2020

Chicago | Reuters — Two prominent U.S. Senate Democrats are pressing America’s top meatpackers to disclose by month’s end how much pork, beef and chicken they shipped to China during the coronavirus outbreak while warning of possible meat shortages at home. The request from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker increases scrutiny of companies such […] Read more

Crops, Reuters

Mexico to resume sending farmworkers to Canada after safety agreement

By Reuters, GFM Network News June 22, 2020

Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico will resume sending temporary farmworkers to Canada after the two countries reached an agreement on improved safety protections for labourers on Canadian farms during the coronavirus pandemic, the Mexican government said Sunday. Mexico said last Tuesday it would pause sending workers to farms with coronavirus infections after at least […] Read more

A container terminal in Halifax. (CN.ca)

Crops, Reuters

CN sees eastern network revival on supply chain diversity, ports

By GFM Network News June 22, 2020

Montreal | Reuters — Canadian National Railway, the country’s biggest railroad, is banking on growth in consumer products and supply-chain diversification in Asia, to revive traffic on its underutilized eastern Canadian rail lines, the company’s CEO told Reuters Friday. Coronavirus, which hit China’s industrial production, along with U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, are further leading […] Read more

ADM Q2 profit falls to 5-year low amid trade turmoil

Canada’s trade deficit widened to C$5.9 billion in June

Alberta Crop Report: Higher-than-average yields expected

GFM Network News