Century Lane Farm near Ashton, Ont., has long been known for its polled Dorset sheep. It sells genetics to other sheep farms.

Colombia opens small ruminant export opportunities

Frozen semen can now be exported from flocks not on scrapie program

Canadian sheep and goat farmers have more access to export markets due to recent approval to ship frozen semen to Colombia without the need for scrapie risk certification. That’s in addition to the agreement two years ago that allows embryos and live small ruminant access to Colombia. Live animals and embryos have to come from […] Read more

Sergio Rocha, executive director of a cannabis cultivation research project, works in a greenhouse at Brazil’s Federal University of Vicosa on Aug. 18, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Washington Alves)

Cannabis firms catch whiff of opportunity in Brazil

Canadian producers among those now supplying Brazilian market

Sao Paulo | Reuters — International cannabis companies are showing interest in Brazil, both its large consumer market for medicinal products and a proposal that could legalize planting of the crop. Major producers such as Colombia’s Clever Leaves and Canada’s Canopy Growth are developing and selling medicinal cannabis products to a Brazilian consumer segment estimated […] Read more

Signage on a Tweed retail outlet in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Canopy Growth to close Saskatchewan pot plant

Ontario company stepping out of other international plays

A major indoor cannabis grow site at Yorkton, Sask. is the latest casualty as pot producer/retailer Canopy Growth adjusts its worldwide footprint. Smiths Falls, Ont.-based Canopy Growth, whose cannabis brands include Tweed, Tokyo Smoke, Van der Pop and Spectrum Therapeutics, announced Thursday it will shut down its Tweed Grasslands production facility at Yorkton to “further […] Read more

Cartagena’s colonial walled section and fortress are a UNESCO World Heritage site in Colombia. (CIA.gov)

Colombia cleared of foot-and-mouth

Country now aims to double meat exports

Bogota | Reuters — Colombia will look to double its meat exports now it has regained its status as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease, President Ivan Duque said on Thursday. Foot-and-mouth is a highly contagious viral disease found in animals and is one of the most serious to affect livestock, including cattle, sheep and […] Read more

Plants on a coca plantation in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada. (James Wagstaff/iStock/Getty Images)

Colombian president defends use of glyphosate on coca crops

Bogota | Reuters — A judicial ban on aerial spraying of glyphosate herbicide to eliminate coca crops should be modified, Colombia’s President Ivan Duque said on Thursday, because expansion of the crop since the ban threatens peace efforts. The Andean country suspended aerial fumigation of coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine, with the Monsanto herbicide […] Read more


(Rahr.com)

Chinese demand boosting Canadian wheat, barley exports

CNS Canada — China is making major moves to import more Canadian wheat and barley this year. Data released by the Canadian Grain Commission show China more than tripled its wheat imports, taking in 979,100 tonnes as of May, up from 295,300 tonnes in the same period of 2016-17 and an increase of 231.6 per […] Read more

A rail line in Aguas Calientes, Peru. (CIA.gov)

Pacific trade bloc adds ‘associate’ members, including Canada

Cali, Colombia | Reuters –– Four new countries will be admitted to the Pacific Alliance as associate members, the trade group said on Thursday, as it seeks to expand commerce with the Asia-Pacific region while the U.S. pushes for protectionist measures. The alliance, which comprises Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru, will on Friday admit Singapore, […] Read more



Cartagena’s colonial walled section and fortress are a UNESCO World Heritage site in Colombia. (CIA.gov)

Colombia, rebels plan joint drug crop eradication

Havana | Reuters –– Colombia’s government and leftist FARC rebels agreed on Friday to a pilot project to replace illicit crops, mainly coca, as part of negotiations aimed at ending Latin America’s last and longest guerilla war, which is fueled in part by drug profits. Colombia is one of the world’s biggest producers of cocaine, […] Read more

Cocaine. (DEA.gov)

Colombia calls off aerial coca spraying

Bogota | Reuters –– Colombia will suspend aerial fumigation of illegal coca plants in light of a number of studies linking the herbicide involved to cancer, a move that marks the end of a decades-long strategy in the country’s fight against drug trafficking. Spraying coca leaves, which are used to make cocaine, has been a […] Read more