In the hope of ending a longshore workers’ strike at British Columbia’s ports, Canada’s labour minister plans to put forward a recommendation for a settlement to break a stalemate between union and management. In a statement at about 9:30 CT Tuesday evening, Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said he had asked the senior federal mediator in […] Read more
Feds to propose terms to settle B.C. ports strike
Labour minister asks mediator to draft a deal
Dates moved up in dairy sector’s CUSMA compensation calendar
Calculation date will shift to Aug. 31
Changes are being made to the timetable for the remainder of the program compensating Canada’s dairy farmers for market share lost to recent multilateral trade deals. The Dairy Direct Payment Program (DDPP), which issued $1.75 billion over four payments from 2019 to 2023 to compensate for the Canada-European Union (CETA) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade […] Read more
Alberta lifts feeder loan guarantee limit
Amendment boosts individual limit by 50 per cent
Alberta has boosted the limit on the size of loan available under its Feeder Associations Loan Guarantee program, aiming to help producers keep up against rising livestock prices. An order in council amending the provincial Feeder Associations Guarantee Regulation was approved Monday, raising that program’s individual and joint-membership loan limit to $3 million, from $2 […] Read more
ADM buys Saskatchewan pulse miller
Prairie Pulse to double U.S. firm's reach in province's pulse sector
One of the four majors in global agrifood has bought expanded capacity in Saskatchewan’s pulse crop sourcing and processing space. ADM on Wednesday announced having bought Prairie Pulse Inc., whose main asset its its pulse crop processing and packaging plant at Vanscoy, about 25 km southwest of Saskatoon. Chicago-based ADM — known as the ‘A’ […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures turn lower
Current-year hog futures higher
Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle and feeder cattle futures took a turn lower in resumed trading Wednesday while near-month hogs turned higher. Most-active August live cattle came back off the U.S. Independence Day break down for a second day off Friday’s three-week high, closing Wednesday at 174.95 cents/lb., down 1.875 cents from Monday (all figures […] Read more
Strike continues at West Coast ports as employers exit talks
Results unlikely through bargaining now, BCMEA says
A strike by longshore workers at British Columbia’s West Coast ports is expected to continue after the employers’ group announced plans to step away from further bargaining. The B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), in a statement Monday, said it’s “of the view that a continuation of bargaining at this time is not going to produce […] Read more
Canada books first month in 19 without bird flu outbreak
Eight commercial poultry farms remain active sites
June 2023 appears set to be Canada’s first month without a new highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in poultry or other domesticated birds since the disease returned to this country in late 2021. Canada has booked 322 outbreaks in domestic birds in the past 19 months, of which 31 were detected so far in 2023. […] Read more
Saskatchewan drainage work rebates expanded to farmers
Channel clearing, drain maintenance program shares eligible costs
A program to help rural Saskatchewan municipalities and local authorities cover costs of channel clearing and maintaining drains for flood prevention will now expand to include individual landowners. The province’s Water Security Agency (WSA) said Friday its $1 million cost-share rebate program will expand its eligibility beyond RMs, conservation and development area (C+D) authorities and […] Read more
Bovine TB turns up in Saskatchewan herd
Two cases found after U.S. test flags Canadian heifer
A heifer whose tissues tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (TB) at slaughter in the U.S. has been traced back to a Saskatchewan cattle herd which has now turned up two more cases of the disease. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in a report dated Wednesday, said it was notified Feb. 23 by the U.S. Department […] Read more
Rail interswitching expansion pilot clears Parliament
Grain handlers to press for plan to be made permanent
Last week’s passage of the 2023 federal budget starts a 90-day countdown toward an 18-month test of expanded interswitching on railways in the three Prairie provinces. Bill C-47, the government’s budget implementation bill — which was first read April 20 in the House of Commons and got third reading in the Senate and royal assent […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
