Ron Kostyshyn is sworn in on Oct. 18, 2023 as Manitoba’s minister for agriculture, with Premier Wab Kinew at left. (Government of Manitoba video screengrab via YouTube)

Former ag minister returns in new Manitoba cabinet

Kinew names Kostyshyn to ag portfolio

Incoming Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has brought a former provincial agriculture minister back to the cabinet table to handle the ag file. Ron Kostyshyn, who from 2012 to 2016 was then-premier Greg Selinger’s ag minister while serving as MLA for the northwestern riding of Swan River, was sworn in Wednesday as minister of agriculture in […] Read more

(Video screengrab from Saputo.com)

Hold off on milk price hike, dairy farmers say

Dairy commission to consult again before making annual adjustment

The process to set the next national price adjustment for Canadian milk will now take an extra week, triggered by stakeholder objections, for a round of consultations — in which the national dairy farmer group plans to call for a delay on any increase. The Canadian Dairy Commission — the Crown corporation managing Canada’s milk […] Read more


Conservative agriculture critic John Barlow speaks Nov. 24, 2021 in the House of Commons. (Screengrab from supplied video)

Anti-activist bill back before Commons committee

Bill adds protections for biosecurity, farmers' mental health, Barlow says

A bill to create harsher penalties for unlawful entry onto farms and biosecure zones is back before the House of Commons after a previous iteration died on the order table in 2021. Conservative MP John Barlow brought forward Bill C-275, “an Act to amend the Health of Animals Act (biosecurity on farms),” as a private […] Read more

Reductions in methane emissions based on genetic advances will be cumulative, proponents say.

The climate-friendly cows bred to belch less methane

Research conducted partially at the University of Alberta underpins the effort

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters – When dairy farmer Ben Loewith’s calves are born next spring, they will be among the first in the world to be bred with a specific environmental goal: burping less methane. Loewith, a third-generation farmer in Lynden, Ont., in June started artificially inseminating 107 cows and heifers with the first-to-market bull semen with a […] Read more


(FatCamera/E+/Getty Images Canada)

Major grocery chains agree to help stabilize prices, feds say

Any moves must not undercut farmgate prices, government warns

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s five major grocery chains have agreed to help the government in its bid to stabilize soaring prices, a senior minister said on Monday, following talks to address an issue that is hurting the ruling Liberals. Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne made the announcement after two hours of what he said were […] Read more

File photo of the produce section at a Canadian grocery store. (FatCamera/E+/Getty Images)

Trudeau summons top grocers over rising food prices

Major grocers' level of profit 'does not make sense,' PM says

Ottawa | Reuters — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said he had summoned the country’s top grocers to help find solution to the surging food prices and vowed to cut federal taxes on new rental buildings, as he fights an affordability crisis that has dented his party’s opinion poll ratings. After meeting with Liberal […] Read more


Both sides are claiming victory in a recent ruling on dairy trade.  photo: arlutz73/istock/getty images

Keep balance in research funding

Declining federal government funding means others must fill in to fill the gap

Reading Time: 3 minutes Many ingredients went into the mix that resulted in the extraordinary success of agriculture in feeding a growing population. There’s the ability of farmers to constantly learn and increase their management skills. There are also vast improvements in technology – mechanical, digital and biological – that have come from researchers in both private companies and […] Read more

Water flows through a washed-out culvert on the CN rail mainline at Truro, N.S. on July 23, 2023. (Photo: Nigel Gloade/Millbrook First Nations/Handout via Reuters)

Nova Scotia farmers granted late AgriStability entry

Enrolment for 2023 now an option until Dec. 31, 2024

Nova Scotia farmers who aren’t in on AgriStability for 2023 and whose operations were hit hard by weather events this spring and/or summer now have until the end of next year to enroll. The Nova Scotia and federal governments on Friday announced enrolment for the ag income stabilization program, which ended on April 30, has […] Read more