Canada Bread, the Canadian arm of Mexican baked-goods giant Grupo Bimbo, plans to close its bakery at North Bay, Ont. later this summer. The company announced Wednesday it will begin to gradually wind down operations, transfer the plant’s work to its other bakeries in Quebec and Ontario and shut down the bakery effective Aug. 5. […] Read more
Bimbo to shut Canada Bread’s North Bay plant
Hedge fund urges organics firm SunOpta to sell itself
Reuters — Hedge fund Tourbillon Capital Partners is urging Canadian organic food firm SunOpta Inc. to sell itself to a bigger rival, according to a letter sent to the company on Friday. Mississauga, Ont.-based SunOpta’s share price jumped 26 per cent after the US$4 billion hedge fund asked it to hire an investment bank to […] Read more
Saskatchewan names new deputy ag minister
A promotion for Saskatchewan’s deputy minister of agriculture leads to a promotion for one of the ministry’s assistant deputies. Doug Moen, who’s leaving his post as deputy minister to Premier Brad Wall at the end of June, on Friday announced Rick Burton as the province’s new deputy minister of agriculture, effective July 1. As the […] Read more
New Whole Foods chain 365 faces tough mission
Los Angeles | Reuters — Whole Foods Market’s 365 grocery chain offers lower prices and more technology than the company’s namesake supermarkets, but experts say the fledgling brand must beat its many rivals without hijacking customers from its parent. 365, which debuted on Wednesday with a bright and airy store in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake […] Read more
Window open wider for comment on CGC licensing moves
Facing “requests from stakeholders,” the Canadian Grain Commission has granted them a 12-week extension on its deadline for comments on plans to license feed mills, producer car loading sites and grain agents. The deadline, previously June 3, is now Aug. 31, the commission said in a release Friday. Input is being sought from producer railway […] Read more
How to get a handle on farmland prices
Farm Credit Canada tracks percentage changes across the country, while Alberta Agriculture looks at dollar values in municipalities
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farm Credit Canada’s recently released Farm Land Value Report and a database created by Alberta Agriculture can go a long way to helping producers establish a land value, says a provincial farm business specialist. “According to the new FCC report, Alberta’s change in farmland values was 11.6 per cent which was 1.5 per cent higher […] Read more
Uncertain times prompt growers to take out more insurance
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s an uncertain world out there, especially in farming — and that has more Alberta producers taking out crop insurance. “We’re seeing more acres being insured by Alberta producers on crops — last year we were close to about 78 per cent of acres insured,” said Merle Jacobson, acting president of the Agricultural Financial Services […] Read more
Guenther: Seeding in home stretch for dry NW Saskatchewan
Seeding is drawing to a close in northwestern Saskatchewan, largely due to warm, dry weather this month. On average, seeding in the northwest was over half done early in the week, according to the latest Saskatchewan Crop Report. Provincially, farmers are 51 per cent done, putting them miles ahead of the five-year average of 28 […] Read more
Warm spring weather seeding interrupted by frost
Alberta crop conditions as of May 17
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Forestry – Unusually warm spring weather was interrupted by a brief frost which descended across most of the province, with the coldest temperatures occurring on May 13, 2016. Generally, the irrigated crops are looking good, dry land crops are in need of moisture and pasture and tame hay are under stress due […] Read more
U.S. study finds no risks to people, planet in GMOs
It’s time for the task of regulating new crop varieties to focus on plants’ characteristics rather than on how the plants were developed, a team of U.S. scientists recommends in a new report. A study committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on Tuesday released an “extensive” study of genetically engineered crops, finding […] Read more