Farmers attend a protest during a nationwide strike against newly passed farm bills at the Singhu border near Delhi on Dec. 8, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis)

Farmers protest across India against Modi’s farm market reforms

New Delhi/Mumbai | Reuters — Farmers’ protests against new laws liberalizing agricultural markets spread across India on Tuesday, as farm organizations called for a nationwide strike after inconclusive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. In eastern and western states, farmers blocked roads and squatted on railway tracks, delaying hordes of people getting to work, […] Read more


Agricultural workers gather on Dec. 2, 2020, whilst blocking the Panamericana Sur highway at Villacuri, Peru, during a protest over a long-standing but controversial agrarian law. (Photo: Reuters/Sebastian Castaneda)

Peru farm protests grip country, turn deadly

'There are no harvests, there is nothing'

Lima | Reuters — Protests by farm workers demanding better wages in Peru raged on for a fourth day Thursday, spreading north into key agricultural areas of the Andean nation, derailing harvests of some crops, snarling transport of produce and leaving at least one dead. Peruvian interim President Francisco Sagasti called the death of a […] Read more



Gates at property access points should be closed when not in use and locked overnight.

Be ready for the protesters

Hopefully a group never shows up at your farm gate, but if they do....

The past year has brought several examples of activists trespassing on Canadian farms to create media exposure around farming practices. They’re expected to continue. As president of Ag & Food Exchange Ltd., Geraldine Auston, based in Surrey, B.C. provides an industry advisory service to help farmers, truckers and agri-businesses handle pressure from special-interest groups. Earlier […] Read more

Four men walk along rail tracks near a blockade at Tyendinaga, Ont., east of Belleville, on Feb. 22, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Carlos Osorio)

OPP clear rail blockade, arrest 10

No word yet on when CN service through area will resume

Tyendinaga, Ont. | Reuters — Ontario Provincial Police on Monday made 10 arrests and cleared a rail blockade that had been stopping freight and passenger traffic for almost three weeks on one of the country’s busiest lines. OPP secured the area just east of Belleville, Ont., Canadian National Railway Co (CN) said, and CN technicians […] Read more


A CN freight train remains halted as train tracks are blocked two km away at Tyendinaga, Ont., east of Belleville, on Feb. 14, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

Fraser: Rail blockades should be a lesson for all

Our latest so-called national crisis led to calls for police to arrest protesters and tear down blockades, but perhaps we should be thinking about how to prevent conflicts like this from happening in the first place. It’s amazing how much can change in just a few days. Canada’s Agriculture Day on Feb. 11 brought together […] Read more



Members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory block tracks serving Via Rail at Tyendinaga, Ont., east of Belleville, on Feb. 13, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

CN halts rail traffic in East due to protests

Grain groups seek dispute resolution or enforcement of court orders

Canadian National Railway (CN) is shutting down its Eastern Canada operations due to ongoing blockades on its rail lines in Ontario. The company announced Thursday it’s been “forced to initiate a disciplined and progressive shutdown” in the region, which means “stopping and safely securing all transcontinental trains across its Canadian network.” The decision “may imminently […] Read more

CN locomotives in Winnipeg. (Photo courtesy CN)

CN could shut parts of network over pipeline protests

Reuters — Canadian National Railway said Tuesday it would be forced to shut down parts of its network unless rail line blockades in protest against a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia are removed. The protests of recent weeks are seen as a flashpoint for indigenous rights and reconciliation and demonstrators on Tuesday also blocked […] Read more