Nova Scotia farmers who didn’t qualify for federal disaster financial assistance (DFA) in the wake of Hurricane Fiona last September may be able to get in on a new provincial program instead. The province on Thursday announced $3 million for what it calls the Fiona Agriculture Response Gap Funding program, offering up to $400,000 for […] Read more
Nova Scotia to bridge Fiona funding gap for farmers
Provincial program offering up to $400K per farm
Multi-million-dollar fund greenlights soil health projects
Eight projects to push soil health practices will get funding for the next five years
Eight soil health projects across Canada will be getting a multi-million-dollar boost in private funding over the next five years. The Weston Family Foundation — the philanthropic arm of the Weston business empire — has slated $10 million for those eight projects through the organization’s soil health initiative, it was announced Feb. 13. The initiative […] Read more
Inventive distillery turns waste milk product into vodka
Distilling process key to a sustainable dairy value chain
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – After turning “unused milk sugar” into a popular line-up of vodka and cream liquors, Ontario’s Dairy Distillery has achieved another milestone — carbon neutral production. The Ottawa-area maker of Vodkow is already well known to many Albertans as the province is the company’s second biggest market after Ontario. It makes vodka from […] Read more
Feds appoint new deputy ag minister, CFIA chief
Eleven senior civil servants shuffled
Canada’s government has lined up a new federal deputy minister for agriculture and a new president for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, both to take office later this month. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a shuffle in the top ranks of the public service involving 11 senior managers following four recent retirements. Associate […] Read more
Alberta plans new ag processing tax credit
Incentive to be introduced in 2023 budget
Alberta has telegraphed plans for a new provincial tax credit in its upcoming budget to spur development in the ag processing sector. The province on Tuesday announced plans for what it calls the Alberta Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit — a 12 per cent, “non-refundable” tax credit for corporations making capital investments in “value-added agri-processing” in […] Read more
Schoepp: With political will and good policy, you can accomplish a lot
The impressive growth in Quebec’s greenhouse sector is an example of what can be accomplished
Reading Time: 3 minutes This past year Quebec reached a milestone in being able to supply a full 50 per cent of greenhouse vegetables consumed in the province. The veggies that are widely grown in the province’s greenhouses are tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuce. I have been in vegetable fields and greenhouses throughout Canada and abroad, and the abundance […] Read more
Borderline city hosts interprovincial food trade pilot
Trade barrier on pause for two years for food businesses serving Lloydminster
The idea of loosening interprovincial trade in certain foods made by provincially-inspected processors will get a major test in one of Canada’s very few province-crossing municipalities. The Saskatchewan, Alberta and federal governments on Jan. 19 announced the start of a two-year pilot project within the limits of Lloydminster, a city of over 31,000 people straddling […] Read more
Development partners commit US$30 billion to food production in Africa
Continent facing record-level hunger
Dakar | Reuters — Development partners have committed US$30 billion to boost food production in Africa over the next five years, the president of the African Development Bank said on Friday at the close of a summit on food security on the continent. The continent is facing its worst food crisis ever, with more than […] Read more
U.S. wants WTO dispute system fixed by 2024
Appeals body frozen since Trump era; Washington 'very committed' to reform
Geneva | Reuters — The United States is entering a third phase of talks with countries to reform the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) hobbled trade dispute arbitration system and aims for it to be “fully functioning” by the end of 2024, the U.S. ambassador to the WTO told Reuters on Thursday. The WTO’s appeals bench, […] Read more
CFIA president retires
NFU calls for next agency boss to prevent 'regulatory capture'
Canada’s federal regulator for the food and animal and plant health sectors is in the market for a new president following the incumbent’s retirement. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed its president, Dr. Siddika Mithani, has retired from the federal public service effective Jan. 20. Mithani has led CFIA since February 2019, having served […] Read more