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(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)
Markets

No timeline yet set for BRM reforms

Changes put on hold along with ministers' meeting

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Ottawa — Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has confirmed any reforms to business risk management (BRM) programs are being delayed. That confirmation came during a wide-ranging media availability Bibeau held Tuesday. In March, Tom Rosser, an assistant deputy minister at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), said the government is looking at a number of options […] Read more
Asparagus production has been one of the first crops affected by a lack of workers available because of COVID-19 restrictions and infections.
Crops, News

Agri-food worker protection funds increased

Program provides protective equipment and funds ways to separate workers

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The Ontario provincial government is investing $15 million more to fund health and safety protection for farm workers. The Agri-food Workplace Protection Program was originally funded with $4.5 million from the federal and provincial government, but the province is now committing up to $15 million to enhance health and safety measures on farms and in […] Read more
The online resource provides lots of information and interactive material, CASA said. It includes colouring sheets, a grain safety game and a video series on safety and health-related activities.
News

CASA develops online tool to help families with farm safety

There’s an expectation that there will be more children on the farm this year

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Glacier FarmMedia – The Canadian Agriculture Safety Association and BASF are digitally expanding farm safety resources for children. The new resource comes as the COVID-19 pandemic affects family life. With kids at home because of school closures, it’s expected more will be involved in activities on the farm, said Wayne Barton, the manager of research […] Read more
File photo of a bridge over the Yalu River boundary between China and North Korea. (Tarzan9280/iStock/Getty Images)

U.N. expert says ‘some are starving’ in North Korea

Estimated 40 per cent of North Koreans need humanitarian aid, WFP says

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Geneva | Reuters — A United Nations human rights expert voiced alarm on Tuesday at “widespread food shortages and malnutrition” in North Korea, made worse by a nearly five-month border closure with China and strict quarantine measures against COVID-19. Tomas Ojea Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, […] Read more
Comment: How well are farmers handling their pandemic fame?
News

Comment: How well are farmers handling their pandemic fame?

Some efforts to reach out to consumers are proving controversial

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Farmers often lament that as each generation becomes further removed from the farm, the ability of urbanites to understand and appreciate what it takes to grow food has declined. Even though agriculture is fundamental to the health, wealth and security of any nation, Canadian producers now make up less than two per cent of the […] Read more
File photo of Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam at a news conference in Ottawa on April 9, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)
Markets

Tam concerned over alcohol, junk food use during pandemic

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Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s top health officer on Sunday expressed concern over higher consumption of alcohol and junk food during the coronavirus epidemic, suggesting this could be a sign of worsening mental health. The total number of Canadians killed by the coronavirus edged up by 0.9 per cent to 7,773 from 7,703 on Saturday, […] Read more
University of Guelph PhD student Abdul-Rahim Abdulai explained ways in which the pandemic has served as a disruptor in the dynamic of rural communities. (Arrell Food Institute video screengrab via YouTube)

Pandemic may strain rural community resources, panel warns

Enthusiasm for telecommuting could later benefit rural areas, if 'digital divide' can be bridged

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The COVID-19 pandemic, and Canada’s response to it, have highlighted how rural communities need different strategies than their urban counterparts to provide social services on which the public relies. The Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph hosted a virtual panel in May to discuss COVID-19’s social impacts, in which researchers from a variety […] Read more
Anxiety can be a factor in farm decision-making during the pandemic, but understanding that emotion can help, says one expert.
News

Hack your brain to reduce stress

Help yourself and others by understanding how the brain works

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Updated June 8, 2020 Agriculture is unpredictable, and the COVID-19 pandemic is placing additional stress on farmers’ mental health. Experts say understanding the neurological origins of stress and the contagious nature of emotions can alleviate pressure caused by stress. Why it matters: Fear and anxiety can impede decision making, directly affecting the business and those […] Read more
File photo of a chickpea crop in India. (Nikhil Patil/iStock/Getty Images)
Markets

India to let farmers sell produce directly to traders, retailers

Current system seen reducing farmer bargaining power

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New Delhi | Reuters — India is to allow farmers to sell produce directly to bulk buyers such as trading companies, food processors and large retailers, the farm minister said on Wednesday. This would obviate the need for farmers to bring their produce to India’s more than 7,000 regulated wholesale markets and let buyers buy […] Read more
File photo of a farmed mink. (Konstantin Sokolov/iStock/Getty Images)
Livestock

Dutch to cull mink at farms hit by COVID-19 outbreak

Order follows mink-to-human virus transmissions

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Amsterdam | Reuters — The Dutch government on Wednesday ordered mink culled at nine farms where animals have been infected with the coronavirus, fearing they could form a reservoir of disease infecting humans after the country’s current outbreak has passed. “Clearing the infected farms is in the interest of both human health and animal health,” […] Read more

Cyber-Savvy Farmer

Glacier Farmmedia Podcast