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Saskatchewan shores up disaster program for bigger farms

Program extends PDAP aid to higher-revenue farm businesses

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Saskatchewan farmers whose operations took damage from storms in April, but whose gross revenues overtopped the maximum for disaster assistance, will now be able to get in on that program. The province on June 16 announced “supplemental relief” via the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program to help farmers who didn’t qualify under PDAP’s usual eligibility rules. […] Read more
A restoration company vehicle sits in a flooded field at Abbotsford, B.C. on Nov. 30, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)
Machinery

AgriRecovery underway for flood-battered B.C. farms

Feds, province put up $228 million

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The federal and British Columbia governments’ response to last fall’s destructive flooding now includes what’s said to be the biggest farm disaster recovery package in the province’s history. Provincial Agriculture Minister Lana Popham and her federal counterpart Marie-Claude Bibeau on Monday announced cost-shared funding of $228 million for the Canada-B.C. Flood Recovery for Food Security […] Read more
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Machinery

Farm cybersecurity campaign seeks farmer input

CSKA online survey open until Feb. 18

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Canadian farmers are being asked for their input on a federally-backed project to assess and improve cybersecurity in Canada’s ag sector. The Community Safety Knowledge Alliance, the lead organization on the Cyber Security Capacity in Canadian Agriculture project, has put up a voluntary online survey for farm operators, running until Feb. 18, “to look at […] Read more
File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Audit finds Canada failing migrant farmworkers on COVID-19, housing inspections

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Toronto | Reuters — As the COVID-19 pandemic raged, federal government inspectors frequently deemed the employers of migrant workers compliant with health and safety rules despite a lack of evidence, according to an Auditor General report released Thursday. While Canadian provinces and territories set housing standards, the federal government is responsible for ensuring tens of […] Read more
ontario autumn
News

Saving the mid-sized farm

Policy paper suggests altering institutions to offset cost burdens could support smaller farms without harming larger ones

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Statistics Canada data indicates the number of mid-sized farms continues to decrease while comparatively large and very large farms gain in size and number. According to analysts at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, a Guelph-based agricultural economics think-tank, the trend poses risks for the sector as a whole. The question is: what could stop the […] Read more
Community members struggle to rescue stranded cattle from an Abbotsford, B.C.-area farm on Nov. 16, 2021 after rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in the region. (Photo: Reuters/Jesse Winter)
Livestock

Small navy of farmers rescues cattle in flood-hit B.C.

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Abbotsford | Reuters — A flotilla of motorboats, canoes, dinghies and jet-skis helmed by farmers raced to move dozens of trapped cows from frigid waters as floods hit British Columbia. After a month’s worth of rain in two days, the downpours triggered widespread flooding. Mudslides hit cities and towns across the province. Among the worst-affected […] Read more
(PorcOlymel.com)
Livestock

Former F. Menard hog plant upgrading for second shift

Olymel announces $9 million in renovations

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Pork and poultry packer Olymel plans to dial up its pork output with a new evening shift at a Quebec hog plant it now owns in the province’s Monteregie. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Sollio Co-operative Group, said Friday it will invest $9 million in renovations at its slaughter, cutting and deboning plant at […] Read more
File photo of a farmed mink. (Konstantin Sokolov/iStock/Getty Images)
Livestock

Canada’s mink farms brace for COVID

Producers have had time to increase biosecurity efforts at the farm level

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Canada’s 40 mink farms are operating under heightened biosecurity requirements after reports of COVID-19 jumping from humans to mink in Europe. Alan Herscovici, an industry spokesperson who operates the website Truthaboutfur.com, said early reports out of Denmark and other European countries gave Canadian producers some time to prepare. “These farms have always had a certain […] Read more
Apples are one of the Ontario crops that rely on seasonal foreign workers for the harvest.
News

Return home stalled for some foreign workers

Seasonal foreign workers face uncertain timeline to return home due to pandemic-related border crossing restrictions

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Seasonal foreign workers face uncertain timeline to return home due to pandemic-related border crossing restrictions

In the spring Ontario farmers were concerned COVID-19 border closures would stymie efforts to get the much-needed foreign workers into Ontario. Now it appears the pandemic might be hindering efforts to get those same workers back home to their families. Why it matters: Smooth operation of the seasonal foreign worker program is critical to the […] Read more
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Feds seek feedback on farm worker living conditions

Consultations focused on 'primary agriculture' labour stream of TFWs

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Improving and standardizing living conditions for temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in Canada — specifically, those on Canadian farms — is the subject of a new round of federal consultations. Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough and Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Tuesday announced consultations are now underway until Dec. 22 with “provinces and territories, employers, workers, worker […] Read more

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