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

Ontario draws new legal lines against on-farm trespass

Grain groups seek ‘essential service’ status for rail
With Canadian National Railway’s conductors and yard workers headed back to work, several Canadian grain groups now want to head off any future job action in the rail sector. CN and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference announced separately Tuesday they had reached a tentative agreement ending an eight-day strike by over 3,000 unionized staff. The […] Read more

Worker’s plea for rest spurs breakthrough in CN strike, union says
Montreal | Reuters — As Canada’s biggest rail strike in a decade dragged on with no resolution in sight, the recorded pleas of an exhausted rail worker who wanted a break after a 10-hour shift helped deliver a critical breakthrough, a union leader told Reuters on Tuesday. The audio recording, released on Monday by Teamsters […] Read more

CN, Teamsters reach deal to end strike
Montreal | Reuters — Teamsters Canada and Canadian National Railway on Tuesday said they reached a tentative deal to end a strike at the country’s largest railroad that had entered its eighth day, disrupting supply chains across the country. “We have a deal,” a CN spokesman said. The union said normal operations will resume on […] Read more

CN strike drags on, hitting grain exports, fertilizer output
Ottawa/Montreal | Reuters — A prolonged strike at Canadian National Railway, the country’s largest railroad, sent further shocks through the economy on Monday with grain shipments scuttled and layoffs planned at fertilizer producers and an auto shipment terminal. As Canada’s biggest rail strike in a decade entered its seventh day, industry kept pressuring the government […] 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

Propane shortage looms as CN strike hits third day
Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — Shippers scrambled to shift freight onto trucks on Thursday as a strike at Canada’s biggest railroad, Canadian National Railway, hit its third day, leaving the critical fuel propane and other goods stranded. Some 3,200 unionized employees, including conductors and yard workers, hit picket lines on Tuesday in the biggest such action […] 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

New environmental rules expected to further lift diesel prices
MarketsFarm — Diesel prices in Canada and the U.S. have increased marginally ahead of winter, which is expected for this time of year — but in the New Year, prices on the farm will likely be higher than normal, as the ocean freight industry adopts new environmental standards. While a farmer’s demand for diesel is […] Read more