The owner of Life Choices Natural Foods and Rolling Meadow Dairy is set to expand its share of the Canadian juice market with a deal for the Toronto maker of Cedar organic and cold-pressed juices. GreenSpace Brands announced Thursday it has signed a cash-and-stock deal by buy the Cold Press Corp. for between $5.385 million […] Read more
‘Natural’ food firm to buy cold-pressed juice maker
Amazon moves into real-world stores with Whole Foods deal
Reuters — Amazon.com said Friday it would buy grocer Whole Foods Market for US$13.7 billion in a move that gives the online retailer a physical network of stores to distribute fresh food and other goods to millennials and wealthy consumers. Amazon, which is known for squeezing suppliers and has been experimenting with its own outlets, […] Read more
OPR threatened, organic industry officials say
The organic industry is mounting a protest against pending changes for its Organic Products Regulation (OPR) that it says has potential to “undo the entire Canadian organic supply chain.” In 2012, the passage of the Safe Foods for Canadians Act resulted in a number of regulations, including the OPR, being combined into a single document […] Read more
Danone wins antitrust approval to buy WhiteWave
Washington | Reuters — French food group Danone has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy U.S. organic food producer WhiteWave Foods, the Justice Department said on Monday. To win approval for the US$10.4 billion deal, Danone agreed to sell its leading U.S. organic yogurt business Stonyfield Farms, the department said. Danone did not immediately reply […] Read more
Three ways to manage tough weeds on organic farms
Using green manure, increasing seeding rates, and incorporating mechanical weed control can help organic producers manage weeds on their operations
Reading Time: 3 minutes The biggest challenge on Steve Snider’s organic farm is weeds — and killing them properly isn’t a one-size-fits-all operation. “The key to remember in organics is there’s no one answer,” said Snider, who has been growing organic grain on his farm near Edberg for 30 years. “It’s not like conventional agriculture. You can’t control weeds […] Read more
Study finds organic’s sustainability ‘context-dependent’
When weighed for sustainability, the purported benefits and costs of organic agriculture can actually “vary heavily” from case to case, a new University of British Columbia study finds. The UBC study, titled “Many shades of gray: The context-dependent performance of organic agriculture,” published Friday in the U.S. journal Science Advances, sets out to “systematically review […] Read more
Canada Bread buys into organic craft bread market
A Toronto baking firm that grows and contracts its own organic grains in eastern Ontario is going to be an entry point in the craft bread market for Canada Bread. Canada Bread, the Canadian arm of Mexican baking giant Grupo Bimbo, announced Monday it had completed its deal to buy Stonemill Bakehouse Ltd. for an […] Read more
Incentives urged to match organic supply to demand
Canadian governments will need to come up with incentives for farmers going organic if they want domestic supply to keep up with domestic demand, a national organic sector group warns. The Canada Organic Trade Association on Wednesday released data showing 5,053 certified organic operations in Canada, accounting for 2.43 million acres of land, at the […] Read more
Apprenticeships available for aspiring organic farmers
Application deadline is Jan. 31
Reading Time: < 1 minute Young Agrarians, a program of Organic Alberta, is growing the next generation of farmers through a new apprenticeship program in 2017. The program is intended to help aspiring farmers gain skills and insight from experienced producers willing to share their knowledge and expertise. Four host farms have been selected in central and northern Alberta. Core activities […] Read more
Take another look at organic — and consider taking the plunge
Reading Time: 3 minutes Over the past couple of years, I have been developing and promoting new marketing tools to help farmers prove the concept of sustainability to consumers, and to use that to their advantage in pricing. Most recently, my efforts have targeted helping those transitioning into organic. I have always been honest and unbiased in my work […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
