Food Freedom Day, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s bellwether of affordability for food in Canada, is a day later in 2018. The CFA on Wednesday announced that by its calculations, a Canadian household of average income has earned enough to pay an entire year’s grocery bill on Friday, Feb. 9. Canadians spent 11 per cent […] Read more
Market shifts, weather push back Food Freedom Day
Dairy sector wary of proposed food label policy
Canadian consumers are being asked to weigh in on proposed new front-of-pack warnings for foods high in saturated fats, sugars and sodium, starting this weekend. And while whole milk would get a pass from such a plan, Canada’s dairy farmer organization fears many other dairy products would wind up wearing such warnings, thus “alarming” consumers. […] Read more
Nutrien sees demand growth cooling, margins shrinking
Reuters — Nutrien, the Canadian fertilizer and farm supply dealer created from the merger of Agrium and PotashCorp this year, said it expected demand growth for potash in China and India to cool down in 2018. Nutrien, the world’s biggest fertilizer company by capacity, also said higher input costs would shrink nitrogen and phosphate margins. […] Read more
Le Bulletin marks 100th anniversary
Canada’s oldest francophone farm publication on Friday marked its 100th birthday with an updated look and a new theme for the year. Le Bulletin des agriculteurs — now owned and published by Glacier FarmMedia, operator of this website — recently released its January 2018 issue under the theme “100 ans et tourne vers l’avenir” (100 […] Read more
Trudeau talks tough on NAFTA, repeats he could walk away
Nanaimo, B.C. | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a tough line on NAFTA on Friday, repeating that he could walk away if he was not happy with talks to modernize a pact the U.S. contends needs major changes. “The negotiations are complex and challenging … I’ve said many times, we are not […] Read more
Moving freight to get more expensive for food companies
Reuters — U.S. food companies called out rising freight costs as a reason for lower profit margins in the holiday quarter, with more pain seen in 2018 as a dearth of drivers and higher diesel prices make it even more expensive to transport products to stores. Hershey, Mondelez International, J.M. Smucker and Campbell Soup said […] Read more
DowDuPont upbeat on growth as sales rise
Reuters — U.S. chemicals producer DowDuPont reported a 14 per cent rise in net sales for the fourth quarter and beat Wall Street profit estimates as a strong global economy led to robust demand and higher prices for its products. The newly-combined company, formed by the merger of chemical giants Dow Chemical and DuPont four […] Read more
Rising diesel could surge with U.S. infrastructure plan
CNS Canada — Diesel costs in Western Canada are roughly eight to 10 cents higher on average than anytime in 2017, and an industry expert warns that gap could grow even more with a potential surge of U.S. construction. “I think we’re already seeing more evidence of a robust, consumption-driven U.S. as more disposable income […] Read more
Trudeau says doesn’t think Trump will pull U.S. out of NAFTA
Ottawa | Reuters –– Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said he did not think U.S. President Donald Trump would pull out of NAFTA, despite slow progress at negotiations to update the US$1.2 trillion trade pact. Trudeau’s comments were among the most positive made by any Canadian official since talks started last year to […] Read more
U.S. rejects proposals to unblock NAFTA, but will stay in talks
Montreal | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade chief on Monday dismissed Canadian proposals for unblocking NAFTA modernization talks but pledged to stay at the table, easing concerns about a potentially imminent U.S. withdrawal from the trilateral pact. Trump, who described the 1994 pact as a disaster that has drained manufacturing jobs to Mexico, […] Read more