Daniel, Lorin and Barry Doersken operate Gemstone Cattle Co., a diversified farm and ranching operation at Gem, Alta.

Quebec, Alberta producers named Outstanding Young Farmers

Meeting counterparts from across the country a great learning experience

An innovative market garden operation near Quebec City, and a progressive ranching operation in southeastern Alberta with a focus on direct meat sales to consumers, won the hearts and votes of judges in November as they were named Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers (COYF). Simon Plante and Alison Blouin, owners of Polyculture Plante from Sainte-Petronille, just […] Read more

Quebec OYF nominees Alison Blouin and Simon Plante among the strawberries on the Polyculture Plante farm.

Simon Plante and Alison Blouin

Outstanding Young Farmers 2024: Its acres capped by geography, this market garden operation seeks to grow more per acre

Increasing production on the same land base, which in turn will help make more marketing opportunities possible— that’s the goal of a young Quebec farming couple heading up a second-generation fruit and vegetable operation near Quebec City. Investing heavily in new production technology on the family-owned Polyculture Plante, located at Sainte-Pétronille on Île d’Orléans, is […] Read more



The soybean tentiform leafminer is blamed for these blotchy leaf mines on plants in a soybean field.

Native insect acquires taste for soy

What's now called the soybean tentiform leafminer is moving north

A tiny North American moth species that has been seen in Canada has been developing a new appetite for soybean plants on the U.S. Plains. The species, Macrosaccus morrisella — now officially named the soybean tentiform leafminer — was detected feeding on soybean crops in eastern Minnesota in 2021 and has since taken its newfound […] Read more



Andrea Borodenko and Antoine Casimir have acquired Quebec’s Production Lareault.(CNW Group/Production Lareault)

Major strawberry plant producer changes hands

New owners get funding to buy Lareault business

The Quebec company billed as Canada’s largest producer of strawberry plants has picked up new ownership after nearly 70 years. Production Lareault, based on just over 450 acres at Lavaltrie, Que. — about 40 km northeast of Montreal, in the province’s Lanaudiere region — has been acquired by investors Antoine Casimir and Andrea Borodenko for […] Read more


(Glacier FarmMedia staff photo)

Legislation allows Quebec’s UPA to rework funding formula

Bill 28 passes Quebec assembly

Quebec’s legislative assembly has passed a bill allowing the province’s overarching general farm organization, the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), to start the process toward a new funding model. Provincial Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne on Thursday announced the passage of Bill 28, which amends legislation governing organization of farming activities and the accreditation of UPA. […] Read more

(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Olymel to consolidate Ontario, Quebec further-processing

Chicken plant at Paris, Ont., and pork plant at Princeville, Que. to close

Pork and poultry packer Olymel is preparing to permanently shut two further-processing facilities and shift their work to other plants in a new round of consolidation. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec’s Sollio Cooperative, announced Wednesday it will permanently close its pork boning and packaging plant at Princeville, Que. effective Nov. 10, and its […] Read more