Amid all the pandemic-related challenges in agriculture, grain movement has been a bright spot heading into the 2020 growing season. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP Rail) says it moved more than 6.35 million metric tonnes (MMT) of grain during the first three months of 2020, surpassing its previous first-quarter record, set in 2016, by 300 thousand... Read More
Category: Western Canada
When you look at the landscape across the Prairies, there's currently all weather happening — from sunshine and seeding, to snow still covering fields. Pulse crops require a little bit of different attention in numerous ways, but an imperative thing you have to keep in mind before that seed goes in the ground is —... Read More
It's been six years since the disease we now call verticillium stripe was discovered in canola in North America. First identified on a research farm in Manitoba in 2014, a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) survey the next year found the pathogen, which can cause striping symptoms on canola stems, in six provinces — from... Read More
Forty-five farms in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and North Dakota are headed into their second growing season working with General Mills on the adoption of "regenerative agriculture" practices as they grow oats for the multi-national food company. The three-year Regenerative Oat Pilot project, which involves more than 50 thousand acres, was launched last year as part of... Read More
After first choosing to reduce the daily slaughter capacity at its High River beef processing facility, Cargill has now suspended cattle kills completely, though temporarily. According to several sources familiar with the plant, Cargill will stop all slaughter shifts for the week of April 13, 2020, but will continue to process beef cuts. The plant... Read More
It's safe to say there is a tonne of focus on what is going on in the grocery market right now — from toilet paper, to flour, to ribeyes. As restaurants have closed or shut down due to COVID-19, there has been a huge shift to food purchases at the grocery store. Kevin Grier, with... Read More
During the NAFTA renegotiations, it was continually reinforced by Canada and the U.S. that the beef supply chain between the two countries is highly integrated. From a trade perspective many look at this as a positive, but that does mean we share in market risk. Early on Monday, April 13, RealAgriculture was notified by feedyards... Read More
The Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) is calling on both the federal and Manitoba governments to adopt a "whole-of-government" approach to food security, which includes immediately adopting a strategic approach to emergency preparedness for the Canadian food supply chain. This request is in response to supply-chain disruptions due to COVID-19. It is crucial that Canadians can... Read More
The week has started off with more livestock processing issues, as the industry attempts to deal with COVID-19. Cargill's High River, Alta., beef plant is the latest in a growing list of plants to either slow its slaughter line down or shut it down entirely due to COVID-19 risks. According to several sources, the High... Read More
As of April 13, the Government of Canada is allocating $50 million to help farmers, fish harvesters, and all food production and processing employers with support for temporary foreign workers. Even before COVID-19 was an issue, the agriculture and food sectors already faced significant labour shortages. The advent of COVID-19 has delayed many temporary foreign... Read More