Capital Financiere agricole, the venture capital arm of Quebec’s provincial ag lending agency, la Financiere agricole de Quebec, boosted its new investments by almost 40 per cent in its last fiscal year. In its report for the year ending March 31, released Thursday, CFAI said it had authorized 12 new investments worth $5.7 million, a […] Read more
Que. ag venture capital agency antes up
Costs call for higher milk prices now: DFC
Rising costs for fuel and other ag inputs make an immediate increase in the price paid for milk at the farm gate urgent for dairy farms to stay solvent, the Dairy Farmers of Canada warned Monday. The DFC recently asked the Canadian Dairy Commission for an immediate increase of 3.5 cents per litre for milk […] Read more
Time to give on supply management: Chamber
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has gone public urging Ottawa to show some give in its protection of supply management at global trade talks. The chamber — which bills itself as the “voice of Canadian business” and claims 170,000 members including businesses, business groups, boards of trade and other chambers of commerce — on Friday […] Read more
OTM rule sent back for comment: report
The rule that allows older Canadian cattle to enter the U.S. must be reopened for a public comment period, a U.S. district court judge ruled Thursday, according to a report from financial news agency Bloomberg. Bloomberg’s Edvard Pettersson reported Thursday that U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol found for the protectionist U.S. ranchers’ group R-CALF USA, […] Read more
Yukon names new minister for farms
Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie’s cabinet shuffle Thursday puts a new minister in charge of the territory government’s ag file. Lake Laberge MLA Brad Cathers, who until now has been Fentie’s minister for health and social services, takes over from Archie Lang as minister for energy, mines and resources, a portfolio that includes responsibility for agriculture. […] Read more
Lakeside sale cause for relief: GMC
Canadian cattle feeders can take a bit of assurance that the Lakeside beef plant at Brooks, Alta., will be in “strong hands” after its sale and may even spur new competition for cattle, according to a new report from the George Morris Centre. In a report released Thursday, the Guelph, Ont.-based ag think tank’s market […] Read more
So much Ont. livestock, so little corn: GMC
Ontario is producing more cattle and hogs than it has home-grown corn to feed them, making those sectors uncompetitive on a cost basis, the George Morris Centre observes in a new report. The Guelph-based ag think tank on Thursday released a new report that warns those Ontario livestock sectors may be headed for “harsh adjustments,” […] Read more
Restaurants pan proposed dairy price hike
The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) is crying foul over a proposed increase in Canadian dairy prices. The group said Thursday that Canadian dairy prices are already among the highest in the world and could rise for the second time in just six months — a move it claims would make it more difficult […] Read more
Alberta appoints board and chair of new meat agency
The Alberta government’s strategy to revitalize the provincial livestock and meat industry has reached its first major milestone by naming the chair and the initial board members of the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA). Joe Makowecki, President of Heritage Frozen Foods, has been appointed as the first chair of ALMA and Ted Bilyea, Charlie […] Read more
Ont. farm premises registry goes live
OnTrace, the agency spearheading food traceability programs in Ontario, has launched an online, full-scale, provincewide Ontario Agri-food Premises Registry (OAPR). “The launch of the OAPR fulfills OnTrace’s first key mandate, which was to deliver a premises identification registry for agriculture and agri-food in Ontario,” said OnTrace CEO Brian Sterling in a release Wednesday.