New Brunswick’s incoming minority Progressive Conservative government will again have one minister handling the province’s agriculture and aquaculture files. Premier Blaine Higgs on Friday announced Gagetown-Petitcodiac MLA Ross Wetmore as his minister of agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries. Wetmore, 65, replaces Andrew Harvey and Benoit Bourque, who had handled the agriculture and fisheries portfolios respectively on […] Read more
New Brunswick ag, fisheries files remarried
Trade pact clause seen deterring China trade deals with Canada, Mexico
Washington | Reuters — China’s hopes of negotiating a free trade pact with Canada or Mexico were dealt a sharp setback by a provision deep in the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that aims to forbid such deals with “non-market” countries, trade experts said on Tuesday. The provision specifies that if one of the current North […] Read more
Mexican president-elect insists on trilateral NAFTA
Washington/Mexico City | Reuters — The United States and Mexico are due to release the text of their trade agreement on Friday, increasing pressure on Canada to join its partners in revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement while Mexico’s president-elect said he would insist on a trilateral pact. President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said […] Read more
Alberta Wheat says its cash advance program will be different
Farm group says it will streamline the process, but competitor says it’s needless duplication
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta farmers now have another service provider when it comes to selecting a cash advance. Producers in the province can now choose from 11 organizations — five offering cash advances for grains and oilseeds — when seeking a low- or no-interest loan pledged against their crops, livestock, or other agricultural products. But the Alberta Wheat […] Read more
Photo-finish election claims New Brunswick’s ag minister
New Brunswick’s incumbent agriculture minister is among the Liberal cabinet members knocked out of office in Monday night’s too-close-to-call provincial election. Final results from Elections New Brunswick put Progressive Conservative candidate Robert Gauvin ahead of Agriculture, Mines and Rural Affairs Minister Wilfred Roussel by a spread of 99 votes in his northeastern riding of Shippagan-Lameque-Miscou. […] Read more
Tories’ junior ag critic promoted in shuffle
The federal Conservatives’ associate critic for agriculture and agri-food has been shuffled into a new post in the opposition’s shadow cabinet. John Barlow, MP for the southwestern Alberta riding of Foothills, was appointed Friday as lead shadow minister for employment, workforce development and labour by party leader Andrew Scheer. In a post on Facebook, Scheer […] Read more
Prairie potatoes not expected to hit record yields again
CNS Canada – The potato acreage may have increased this year in Western Canada, but it doesn’t look like it will be the same story for yields. “I think overall it’s too early to tell because we haven’t started the main harvest, but we are not expecting as big of yield as the last couple […] Read more
Wendy’s sells stake in Arby’s owner
Reuters — Hamburger company Wendy’s Co. ended its decade-old ties with Arby’s as it sold its 12.3 per cent stake in the sandwich chain’s parent for US$450 million on Thursday, giving it a boost as it battles larger rivals McDonald’s and Burger King. Wendy’s will sell its stake to Inspire Brands, owned by Roark Capital, […] Read more
New GM technique promises to speed new crop development
CNS Canada — Scientists in the United States say they have found a new method for inserting genes into crops that could speed up development of new varieties. “Making genetic improvements that were difficult or impossible before will be much easier because we can now insert not just one or two genes, but multiple genes […] Read more
German farmers seek 1 billion euros in drought aid
Hamburg | Reuters – Farmers in Germany need special aid of around 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) because of damage to harvests caused by drought and heatwave, the head of German farming association DBV said on Monday. The aid should be paid to farmers who have lost 30 percent and more of their harvests, DBV […] Read more
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