Reuters — Hurricane Lee barreled across the North Atlantic toward New England and Eastern Canada on Friday, threatening to bring drenching rains, powerful winds and a life-threatening storm surge to the region over the weekend. Lee is expected to weaken into a strong tropical storm before making landfall in southwestern Nova Scotia as a strong […] Read more
Hurricane Lee churns toward New England, Eastern Canada
Nova Scotia may see storm surge up to three feet
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
UN rapporteur calls Canada’s TFW system ‘breeding ground for modern slavery’
Tomoya Obokata says government needs to better protect worker rights and provide better residency path
A United Nations special rapporteur on modern slavery has called out Canada’s temporary foreign worker (TFW) programs, including those in the agriculture sector. Tomoya Obokata, who was appointed by the UN’s Human Rights Council, spoke in Ottawa Sept. 6 following a 14-day visit to Canada. He called the programs “a breeding ground for contemporary forms […] Read more
Ukraine: The second summer of war
As harvest begins, farmers wonder if they should bother
Reading Time: 5 minutes A kamikaze drone flew over our house last night. It fell near our fence and exploded. I looked out the window and saw a red flame. Then I opened my eyes and realized it was a nightmare. In the morning, I called my mother. She said she heard a drone over our town at 3 […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: One last push of summer-like temperatures
Issued Sept. 13, covering Sept. 13-20
As we work our way slowly into fall, we are starting to see a more fall-like pattern beginning to develop — especially when it comes to overnight lows. While the upcoming forecast does not look like we see a big fall cooldown, there is more and more deviation developing between different runs of the forecast […] Read more
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
U.S. food companies go deal hunting as pandemic growth fades
Twinkies maker Hostess exploring a sale
Reuters — U.S. packaged food companies are set for a flurry of deals in a push to revamp their brand portfolios as their pandemic-era fortunes fade and benefits of price hikes start to taper off. Last month, Campbell Soup struck a $2.7 billion deal for Rao’s sauce maker Sovos Brands (all figures US$). Unilever bought […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: Summer trying to hang on
Issued Sept. 6, covering Sept. 6 to 13
The weather models seem to be in good agreement for this forecast period, with no strong storm systems expected to impact the Prairies, making for a fairly high-confidence forecast. This forecast period will start off with a generally west to southwesterly flow across the Prairies. A broad but weak area of low pressure is expected […] Read more
Rest of September to be warmer than normal for Prairies
Southern Prairies to remain drier than normal
MarketsFarm — As summer turns to autumn on the Canadian Prairies, the weather outlook for the rest of September is for temperatures to be warmer than normal, according to Scott Kehler, chief scientist for Weatherlogics. One of the factors in those forthcoming temperatures is the El Niño that has been developing over the last several […] Read more
OAC to offer new master’s program in plant agriculture
New program would run alongside research-based degrees
Ontario Agricultural College is seeking approvals to offer a new master’s degree in plant agriculture, which would designate plant science professionals operating at a grad-school level but not on the traditional research-based path. OAC said Wednesday its proposed new “master of plant agriculture” (MPAg) program would allow recent graduates and professionals to “quickly upgrade education […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
