Dairy co-operative Agropur is stepping away from hauling farmers’ milk in two of the provinces where it does business. The Quebec company announced Monday it would sell its Quebec bulk milk hauling business to unnamed “companies whose core business is transporting liquid food products,” and would also halt its milk transport work in Nova Scotia. […] Read more
Agropur to shed bulk milk handling in Quebec, Nova Scotia
Unnamed buyers to take over Quebec milk runs
COVID outbreak shuts Nova Scotia poultry plant
Province closes Eden Valley for at least two weeks
Provincial officials have temporarily shut a chicken and turkey slaughter and processing plant in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, citing recent cases of COVID-19 among employees. Eden Valley Poultry’s processing plant at Berwick will be closed “for at least two weeks,” the provincial health department said in a release Friday. “We know this will be a […] Read more
As customers hoard pot brownies, weed firms see lockdown boost
Reuters — Cannabis sales are touching new highs as customers across the U.S. and Canada stockpile weed to prepare for long spells of isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic. Between March 16 and 22, sales of recreational cannabis across California, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska — some of the key U.S. markets — were up 50 […] Read more
FCC to offer flexibility in hurricane-battered areas
Farm Credit Canada says it plans to help its farmer clients in Atlantic Canada work around financial pressures following Hurricane Dorian’s passage through the region over the weekend. “We won’t know the full extent of damage for some time, but we’ve already heard that some customers will likely be facing some financial hardship as a […] Read more
Rural development strategy sought in federal shuffle
Rural economic development has been given a promotion at the federal level in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest cabinet shuffle. In the shuffle, following the departure of Treasury Board president Scott Brison from cabinet, Trudeau on Monday called up Bernadette Jordan, MP for the southern Nova Scotia riding of South Shore-St.Margaret’s, to head a newly […] Read more
Fire shutters Dalhousie ag campus’ main building
The Cox Institute, the main building on Dalhousie University’s agricultural campus, has been closed down by a Wednesday night fire believed to have caused substantial damage. No one was reported to be injured in the fire, the Nova Scotia university said via Twitter. According to local media the fire broke out Wednesday evening in the […] Read more
Australia takes Canada to WTO over wine rules
Geneva | Reuters — Australia has complained at the World Trade Organization about Canada’s rules on wine sales, expanding a similar U.S. complaint against one province. In October, Washington accused British Columbia of providing an unfair advantage to local vineyards by giving their wine an exclusive retail channel in grocery store shelves and cutting out […] Read more
Nova Scotia to help black residents get land titles
London | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Historic black communities in Nova Scotia will be given funds to establish legal ownership of land where they have lived for generations, the government said, in a drive to solve what critics call a case of long-running discrimination. The provincial government will spend $2.7 million over two years to […] Read more
Drought-related livestock tax deferral zones widen again
More ranchers in five provinces may now be able to defer some of their taxable income from their livestock sales in 2016 due to drought. The federal government on Aug. 4 announced its final list of drought-designated regions where the livestock tax deferral provision will be allowed for the 2016 tax year, and has included […] Read more
Nova Scotia ag minister, critic keep seats in election
Nova Scotia’s incumbent agriculture minister and lead ag critic have both hung onto their seats in an election which saw the governing Liberals return to power with a slightly slimmer majority. Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election show Premier Stephen McNeil’s Liberals elected in 27 ridings — down from 34 at the government’s dissolution — followed […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
