Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — The U.S. dairy lobby is ratcheting up the pressure on Canada as talks to renegotiate NAFTA draw closer, demanding concessions the Canadian government looks unwilling to grant, according to people familiar with the file. The result could be a brawl that sours efforts to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement, […] Read more
U.S. dairy lobby increases pressure on Canada
Canada, other countries raise meat inspection bar for Brazil
Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — Meat-importing countries from North America to Europe and Asia have tightened inspection standards for shipments from Brazil in a bid to protect consumers, following a probe into possible corruption involving inspectors. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said on Wednesday that the tighter inspection standards it enacted in April have resulted […] Read more
Canada’s Richardson buys European Oat Millers
Winnipeg | Reuters –– Richardson International, one of Canada’s largest grain handlers, said Monday it had purchased European Oat Millers in a deal that expands its geographic reach. The acquisition of European Oat Millers, the second-largest oat miller in Europe, closed on June 15, Richardson said in a statement. Both companies are privately owned. Winnipeg-based […] Read more
Trade sees Canadian farmers trimming wheat, canola acres
Winnipeg | Reuters — Soggy spring conditions in key crop-growing areas of the Canadian Prairies left farmers unable to plant as much as they intended, but canola seedings still look record-large, according to a Reuters survey of 16 traders and analysts ahead of a government report next week. Wet weather made fields sloppy in Alberta’s […] Read more
Parched soils threaten canola, spring wheat
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s western farm belt, dogged by excessive rain in some areas this spring, is now facing parched conditions in others, threatening wheat and canola crops, crop analysts say. A large area of southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba has received less than 40 per cent of normal precipitation during the 30-day period […] Read more
U.S. asks Canada to end ‘underhanded’ dairy pricing class
Reuters — The United States has asked Canada to eliminate a new “underhanded” dairy-pricing class that has undercut sales by U.S. dairies to Canadian processors, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Monday. Perdue was speaking to reporters after he met with Canadian Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay in Toronto. Canada’s dairy farmers last year struck a […] Read more
Canada beats U.S. in pork sales to China – feet, elbows and all
Winnipeg/Chicago/Beijing | Reuters — Canada has overtaken the United States as the top North American supplier of pork to China as farmers and meat packers in both nations battle for lucrative shares of the biggest global market. Canada’s pork sales to China, after a sharp rise last year, exceeded those of the U.S. in the […] Read more
PED’s spread alarms piglet-exporting Manitoba
Winnipeg | Reuters — The deadly pig disease PEDv (porcine epidemic diarrhea virus) is spreading faster than expected in Manitoba, Canada’s biggest piglet-producing province. The number of cases since the beginning of May, now at 10, matches the total from the past three years combined, although the outbreak is not comparable in scale to PEDv’s […] Read more
Canadian pork shipment flagged in China for ractopamine
Winnipeg | Reuters — A Canadian shipment of pig feet to China, produced by meat packer Olymel, has tested positive for residues of banned growth drug ractopamine and may curb future trade, Canadian government and industry officials say. China views the tainted shipment as a “systemic failure” of Canada’s program that certifies pork sent to China […] Read more
Soggy forecast worries Prairie farmers in race to seed crops
Winnipeg | Reuters — Heavy rain forecast for the soggiest parts of the Prairies this week is likely to further delay seeding in the world’s biggest canola-exporting country, meteorologists say. The rain, forecast to hit Alberta and Saskatchewan on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, would be the latest blow to farmers who could not harvest all […] Read more
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