This file photo shows a rack of blood samples being tested for bovine tuberculosis in New Zealand dairy cattle. (Lakeview_Images/iStock/Getty Images)

Six more cattle herds to be tested in TB probe

Updated, Dec. 20 — Cattle from four more herds in British Columbia and two in Alberta are now being tested for bovine tuberculosis as officials probe the country’s latest domestic case of the disease. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday reported the six herds are now under “movement controls” while TB testing is underway. […] Read more

Dairy cattle in Canada. (Pearman314/iStock/Getty Images)

USMCA costs Canada sovereignty in ag policy, critics warn

Changes to Canadian dairy supply management in the final text of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement give up oversight of the system to the U.S., Canada’s dairy farmer group warns. The trade deal, signed Friday in Buenos Aires by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexico’s outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto, now goes […] Read more

Tuberculosis bacteria under an electron microscope. (Janice Haney Carr photo courtesy Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.))

Bovine TB case turns up in southern B.C.

Federal food safety officials are now looking into the life story of a slaughtered British Columbia beef cow confirmed with bovine tuberculosis. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday announced it has launched an investigation after a mature beef cow was confirmed Nov. 9 with bovine TB. The case comes a few months after the […] Read more

(BC.RCMP-grc.gc.ca)

AgriRecovery offered for B.C. wildfire costs

British Columbia ranchers and farmers who lost pasture or cropland or had to move livestock out of the path of wildfires this year may be eligible for AgriRecovery funding. The federal and B.C. governments on Thursday announced a new AgriRecovery program worth up to $5 million to help defray “extraordinary costs incurred” due to wildfires […] Read more

(WineBC.org)

WTO panel to examine U.S. complaint on B.C. wine sale rules

Geneva | Reuters — The World Trade Organization set up a dispute panel on Friday to rule on a U.S. complaint against restrictions in British Columbia on wine sales in grocery stores, a WTO official said. In line with WTO rules, the decision was taken after Canada made its second request at a closed-door meeting […] Read more


A vineyard in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. (British Columbia Wine Institute photo)

Alberta halts ban on B.C. wine

Alberta will resume imports of wine from British Columbia starting Friday, as the B.C. government prepares to take its concerns over piping crude oil to court. In a brief statement Thursday, Alberta’s Premier Rachel Notley said the province has suspended its ban on B.C. wine and will again allow “ordering, receiving and transportation” of B.C. […] Read more

(WineBC.org)

B.C. plans trade challenge of Alberta’s wine ban

The Alberta government’s ban on imports of wine from British Columbia is poised to be the first case challenged under the new interprovincial Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). The British Columbia government announced Monday it will formally challenge the Alberta ban through the CFTA dispute settlement process. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley on Feb. 6 ordered […] Read more

A vineyard in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. (British Columbia Wine Institute photo)

Trudeau under pressure to cork provinces’ wine, oil row

Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced pressure on Wednesday from an important political ally and the business community to settle an oil pipeline dispute that has sparked fears of a trade war between two neighbouring provinces. Alberta and British Columbia are scrapping over Kinder Morgan Canada’s planned $7.4 billion Trans Mountain pipeline […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Saskatchewan, B.C. areas up for livestock tax deferrals

Livestock producers in several more parched municipalities in Saskatchewan and British Columbia will be able to defer income from sales of animals on their 2017 tax returns. The federal government on Tuesday announced its final list of designated regions for 2017, including 20 more municipalities in Saskatchewan and seven in British Columbia. The initial list, […] Read more

(British Columbia Wine Institute photo)

Alberta halts B.C. wine purchases in pipeline feud

Reuters — Alberta struck back at neighbouring British Columbia on Tuesday, halting purchases of that province’s wines in retaliation for its potentially holding up expansion of a crude pipeline. B.C. proposed rules last week to temporarily block increased oil shipments through the province, adding another hurdle to Kinder Morgan Canada’s planned $7.4 billion Trans Mountain […] Read more