The home municipality for Ontario Agricultural College’s (OAC) former Kemptville campus is set to remake the site as an “education and community hub.” The municipality of North Grenville, which includes Kemptville, about 40 km south of Ottawa, closed a deal in December to purchase the Kemptville ag campus, with the official transfer due to take […] Read more
Community to ‘transform’ Guelph’s Kemptville ag campus
Sustainable beef pilot passes first-quarter mark
The packer behind the pilot of a Canadian value chain for certified sustainable beef says its first three months are proof the model is scalable as well as functional. The pilot’s first quarter “proved that a significant volume of beef can be successfully traced through a certified supply chain for the participating customers,” Gurneesh Bhandal, […] Read more
Spitz sunflower seed processing heads south
In the latest food-processing closure, PepsiCo is closing the Bow Island plant and moving the work to the U.S.
Reading Time: 3 minutes The parent company for sunflower seed processor Spitz is poised to close the plant in the brand’s hometown, but says it’s still “committed” to Canadian-grown seeds. However, the company’s founder says the closing of the Bow Island processing plant is another sign that President Donald Trump’s bid to bring jobs back to the U.S. is […] Read more
BASF in talks to buy Bayer vegetable seeds arm
Bayer has entered “exclusive talks” toward a deal to sell its global Nunhems vegetable seeds business to German chemical firm BASF, to help clear the aisle for a Bayer/Monsanto marriage. Nunhems, which has a portfolio of about 1,200 seed varieties in over two dozen different vegetable crops worldwide, sells seeds in North America for tomatoes, […] Read more
Mushroom grower Highline expands westward reach
Canada’s biggest mushroom grower is set to further expand its market space in Western Canada with a deal for a West Coast competitor. Highline Mushrooms of Leamington, Ont. announced Wednesday it will buy Prairie Mushrooms of Langley, B.C. for an undisclosed sum. Highline, which has operated since 1961 and was taken over in 2016 by […] Read more
Missouri turkeys turn up with low-path bird flu
A commercial flock of about 20,000 turkeys in southwestern Missouri has turned up with low-pathogenicity (“low-path”) H7N1 avian flu, marking the first such case in the U.S. this year. The flock was on a turkey farm in Jasper County, about 140 km northwest of Branson. Missouri is on the Mississippi flyway for migratory birds, which […] Read more
Emergency first aid training offered online
Reading Time: < 1 minute St. John Ambulance Alberta is offering First Aid and CPR Awareness Training online. The organization has partnered with Yardstick, an online learning firm specializing in online workplace training, to create online learning on how to help someone during a life-threatening medical emergency. “Moving to a highly interactive, modern online format will make these valuable skills […] Read more
Troubled pulse trade generating lots of headlines
Tariffs, fumigation, and prime minister’s India trip have put the crop into the media spotlight
Reading Time: 3 minutes The politics of pulses haven’t reached White House levels yet, but the unassuming legumes are generating headlines like never before. The latest ones include another hike in India’s tariffs, a pledge to resolve a long-running dispute over fumigation, and a new attempt to shield Indian farmers from falling prices. Justin Trudeau appeared to have ended […] Read more
Glacier FarmMedia launches Farmtario
Canada’s largest publisher of farm magazines and newspapers has cultivated a new source of news for farmers in Ontario. Launched Wednesday at the London Farm Show, Farmtario will be a biweekly print publication starting April 30. Its website, Farmtario.com, is available immediately. “We see a bright future for Ontario agriculture and we’re proud to announce […] Read more
CN apologizes as farm groups, Ottawa press on rail service
Canada’s largest railway has taken the unusual step of apologizing for its pace of grain delivery in recent weeks and pledging “immediate steps” to improve its grain handle. After parting ways with its CEO Luc Jobin on Monday, Canadian National Railway (CN), through interim CEO Jean-Jacques Ruest, said Wednesday it “apologize(s) for not meeting the […] Read more
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