The Maple Leaf Foods hog plant at Brandon, Man., has temporarily suspended pork exports to China on a voluntary basis. China has recently instituted new rules where any plant reporting COVID-19 cases is required to suspend exports. The Brandon plant has seen over 50 cases of COVID-19 among employees in the last few weeks, accounting... Read More
Category: Canadian Agricultural Policy
The Mexican government is planning to phase out the use of glyphosate by the end of 2024. The country has already blocked imports of the active ingredient of the world's most commonly used herbicide, citing the precautionary principle and risk to the environment. With his agriculture and environment ministries in conflict over the issue, President... Read More
The eligibility declaration you'll sign at the elevator this crop year will look a lot like declarations you've signed before, but there are some very important differences you need to be aware of. Team Alberta, the communications collaboration between Alberta's major commodity groups, is working hard to make sure farmers fully understand the changes made... Read More
Domestically, Canada's agri-food system is facing a lot of challenges, but the pressures aren't from just within the country. Many newly-felt pressures are from external forces. A new report from Agri-Food Economy Systems based out of Guelph, Ont., outlines these new pressures on agri-food policy in Canada. The list of those pressures in the report... Read More
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs says it has reached a decision regarding a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request that drew plenty of attention in the farm community. OMAFRA says it will not release the FBR numbers but will release the names of those who hold said numbers, except in a... Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has released an update on reported mystery seed packages. Over 750 individuals from across all 10 provinces have received mystery packages of seeds. Information that the CFIA has collected, to date, includes: packages postmarked from several countries and are declared as toys or jewelry; seeds are from a range... Read More
In the food business, there is likely no more ruthless arena than the grocery store. A recent move by Walmart to impose new costs on suppliers has prompted a group of food and beverage organizations to call on the federal government to step in and regulate the grocery industry. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Dairy... Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario is asking the government to improve the programs put in place to help farmers if their businesses are in a loss position because of the pandemic. GFO is asking the government to fully fund the Risk Management program in Ontario, to restore the AgriStability program to 85 per cent (vs 75... Read More
With the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement process in tatters, Canada is among a group of 23 WTO members that are trying to apply a band-aid solution for settling trade disputes amongst themselves. The group, which also includes Australia, China, the European Union, and Mexico, announced on Monday (August 3) that its temporary arrangement is... Read More
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced the 25 members of its Canadian Agricultural Youth Council recently. In the application process, AAFC committed to regional representation and choosing members with a diversity of backgrounds. In naming the 25 members, AAFC has certainly achieved that — with people from every province and one from the northern territories, and... Read More