Ontario’s first producer of verified-grass-fed butter and cheeses is set to become part of the province’s biggest dairy co-operative. Gay Lea Foods said Monday it has completed a deal to buy Thornloe Cheese from its current owner, Guelph-based dairy genetics firm EastGen, for an undisclosed sum. Thornloe Cheese on its website says the business takes […] Read more
Gay Lea buys northern Ontario cheesemaker
Ontario draws new legal lines against on-farm trespass
Ontario has introduced a legislative package setting up new legal boundaries around livestock in that province, whether on farms or in transit. The Security From Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, introduced Monday by Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman, is expected to “address the unique risks and challenges associated with trespass onto a farm or into […] Read more
Ryding-Regency’s federal beef packing licenses cancelled
Citing “false or misleading information” given them during an E. coli probe, food safety officials have now permanently pulled the federal slaughter, processing and export licenses for Toronto’s Ryding-Regency Meat Packers and related companies. The cancellation, announced Monday, indefinitely prolongs what was already described as “critical processing capacity shortage” for the province’s cattle producers, leaving […] Read more
Federal Tories’ former associate ag critic takes lead chair
Andrew Scheer’s federal Conservatives will have a familiar face in the agriculture critic’s chair when the House of Commons reconvenes next month. Scheer on Friday named John Barlow, the MP for the southwestern Alberta riding of Foothills, as the lead opposition critic for agriculture and agri-food. Barlow replaces Quebec MP Luc Berthold, who takes up […] Read more
KFC tests plant-based ‘fried chicken’ in Ontario
Fast-food chicken chain KFC is collecting feedback from a one-day, one-store test of a new Canadian-made plant-based “fried chicken” product for the Canadian market. The Canadian arm of the Yum Brands-owned chain set up a “limited” test run for what it calls KFC Plant-Based Fried Chicken at its 6055 Creditview Rd. store in Mississauga, Ont. […] Read more
CP to buy direct line through Quebec, Maine
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) is set to buy its way back into Quebec’s Eastern Townships and through to eastern ports with a deal for Central Maine and Quebec Railway (CMQ). Calgary-based CP announced Wednesday it has a deal with CMQ’s owner, Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors (FTAI), to buy the railway’s 774 km of rail […] Read more
Union says propane shortfalls may be CN’s own making
Propane shortages for grain dryers and heating fuel in the wake of a strike by Canadian National Railway (CN) conductors and yard workers appear to be “largely manufactured” by the railway, according to the union for the striking workers. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC-CTY), which represents over 3,000 CN staff in Canada who walked […] Read more
Federated Co-op to close Calgary distribution centre
The main supply outlet for Co-op grocery stores in southern Alberta and British Columbia is set to close in April as one of its main users takes its business elsewhere. Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) announced Thursday it will close its Calgary food distribution centre in April, a decision it said will eliminate just over 200 […] Read more
U.S. manufacturer buys control of DOT Technology
A made-in-Canada self-guiding farm equipment platform has sold control of itself to one of its U.S. investors. Sioux Falls, S.D. precision agriculture manufacturer Raven Industries announced last week it has closed its deal to buy majority ownership in Regina-based DOT Technology Corp. for an undisclosed sum. DOT said the deal will allow it to “further […] Read more
Propane-starved East’s grain growers seek end to CN strike
Farmers fighting through a soggy harvest in Eastern Canada have joined their western counterparts’ call for an end to the strike by Canadian National Railway workers — not to get grain out, but to get propane in. Restoring the supply of propane for Quebec’s farm businesses, in the wake of a Canada-wide strike launched Tuesday […] Read more
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