Louise and Percy Schmeiser. (Mary Lou Schechtel photo courtesy Mongrel Media)

Farmer and activist Percy Schmeiser, 89

Thorn in Monsanto's side also the subject of a new major film

Funeral services are to be held and livestreamed Saturday for Prairie farmer, businessman and activist Percy Schmeiser, best known for his ultimately unsuccessful court battles with the company behind Roundup Ready canola. Schmeiser, who farmed at Bruno, Sask., about 90 km east of Saskatoon, died Tuesday at age 89. According to Saskatchewan media, he had […] Read more

(GFM staff photo)

Dairy cattle traceability system switched on

Lactanet's DairyTrace program now operational

Lactanet Canada’s centralized national system for management of dairy cattle traceability data has formally been plugged in. Guelph-based dairy herd management service provider Lactanet on Monday launched DairyTrace, which it says will operate alongside the traceability module of Dairy Farmers of Canada’s proAction initiative in providing “state-of-the-art traceback capabilities in the event of an emergency […] Read more

(Natt Boonyatecha/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. oil refiners press on renewable diesel for Canadian market

Few such projects seen moving forward within Canada

Winnipeg/New York | Reuters — U.S. oil refineries are moving aggressively to produce renewable diesel, partly to cash in on Canada’s greener fuel standard before Canadian refiners modify their own plants. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government intends to present its Clean Fuel Standard this year, aiming to cut 30 million tonnes of emissions by […] Read more

A freighter is loaded with grain from a terminal at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. (Maxvis/iStock/Getty Images)

Wheat, canola exports ahead of year-ago pace

MarketsFarm — Canadian grain and oilseed exports are running well ahead of the year-ago level eight weeks into the 2020-21 marketing year, according to the latest data from the Canadian Grain Commission. Total bulk exports of the major grains and oilseeds, as of Sunday, of 7.17 million tonnes compare with the six million exported during […] Read more

Canadian ginseng, whose shipments to Hong Kong have plummeted since COVID-19 infections peaked in Canada this spring and travel restrictions took effect, is seen in southwestern Ontario’s Norfolk County in this undated photograph. (Handout photo courtesy Helen Mels via Reuters)

Ginseng piling up in Canada despite Chinese demand

Travel restrictions depress new-crop sales

Winnipeg/Hong Kong | Reuters — The pandemic’s crushing effect on international travel has grounded Canadian exports of ginseng, a root widely used in Asia to treat everything from the common cold to impotency, at a time when health is top of consumers’ minds. Canada is the world’s second-largest ginseng exporter after China, with most of […] Read more


Roquette’s plant-based protein products include Nutralys T70S, billed as a plant-based, texturized protein that “guarantees a unique fibrous texture and great use adaptable to several types of meat substitute” such as burger patties, chicken-type filets and sausage. (Roquette.com)

Plant-based protein maker Roquette sees short-term COVID-19 impact

Demand could accelerate second Canadian plant

Paris | Reuters — The plant-based protein market has seen a slowdown in new product launches and lower sales in restaurants and cafeterias due to COVID-19 but benefited from more people cooking at home and trying new products, French manufacturer Roquette said. The market for plant-based protein such as meat-free burgers has surged in the […] Read more

Wheat being loaded onto a cargo ship in Vancouver in 2011. (File photo: Reuters/Ben Nelms)

AAFC lowers wheat carryout estimate, raises canola

MarketsFarm — Updated supply and demand estimates from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada call for tighter wheat carryout for the 2020-21 crop year than previous forecast — and more canola. Tursday’s report provides the first adjusted balance sheet estimates from the government agency that account for the latest production numbers from Statistics Canada released earlier in […] Read more

File photo of Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau speaking to media in Winnipeg in March 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Canada not benefiting from CETA, Bibeau says

Ex-premiers write to Ottawa with critique of EU's continued trade barriers

Canada is not benefiting from the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union (EU), federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau grants. Expected to spur $1.5 billion in new agri-food exports, the free trade deal has fallen short of those targets since its implementation in 2017. In a letter Monday to Prime Minister Justin […] Read more


(Lentils.ca)

India restores reduced tariff on lentil imports

All but U.S. lentil imports to get better break on duty, again

India has reinstated a reduced-rate tariff on imports of lentils from Canada as well as from all lentil-exporting nations other than the United States. Saskatchewan Pulse Growers on Friday reported receiving a Sept. 17 notification of amendment from India’s finance ministry regarding customs tariffs on lentils, which in Canada’s case had snapped back to 33 […] Read more

Charles Baron and partners brought FBN to Canada in 2017, buying Saskatchewan-based Yorkton Distributors. (FBN video screengrab via YouTube)

FBN cuts yearly membership fee to zero

Ag e-commerce firm offers free accounts to farmers

E-marketplace Farmers Business Network (FBN) has disposed of the annual membership fee that allowed members access to its various buying groups and services. California-based FBN, which has operated in the U.S. since 2014 and expanded to Canada in 2017, announced Tuesday (Sept. 15) its farmer members may now have “access to a select range of […] Read more