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
Nova Scotia to help black residents get land titles
Dreyfus shareholders agree to arbitration over stake sale
Amsterdam/Paris | Reuters — Family shareholders of commodity trader Louis Dreyfus have agreed to arbitration talks to settle a long-running dispute over a share sale, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. The tussle concerns an attempt by minority shareholders to sell nearly 17 per cent of the group’s holding firm to Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, […] Read more
France open to phasing out glyphosate
Paris | Reuters — France is open to phasing out common weedkiller glyphosate, the government said on Monday, following complaints from farmers worried about a potential imminent ban. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe reiterated Paris would vote against the European Commission’s proposal to extend for 10 years the licence for glyphosate, which is used in Monsanto’s […] Read more
Alberta’s newest meadery takes a different approach
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta’s newest meadery is doing things a little differently. Along with a traditional honey wine, Tamarack Jack’s Honey and Meadery also produces a variation that might tempt those who prefer a brewskie to the so-called ‘drink of the gods.’ “We are a small apiary turned into a meadery just recently,” Katie Kingdon, manager of the […] Read more
Post-secondary cannabis credentials on offer
Degree and diploma aggies interested in producing commercial cannabis and/or hemp will be able to get college-certified starting next year. Niagara College announced Tuesday it will launch a graduate certificate program in commercial cannabis production in 2018, a program it bills as Canada’s “first post-secondary credential” in the crop’s production. Niagara picked up approval this […] Read more
WTO panel set up on China-U.S. row on grain import quotas
Geneva | Reuters — A World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel was set up Friday to rule on a U.S. complaint over Chinese import quotas on farm goods including wheat, rice and corn, a trade official said. The panel on tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for agricultural products was automatically established as it was the second […] Read more
Partially hydrogenated oils on the way out
The federal government has served a year’s notice on partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) as ingredients in foods sold in Canada. Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor announced Friday that PHOs will be added to Canada’s List of Contaminants and Other Adulterating Substances effective Sept. 15, 2018, giving Canadian food processors and importers “enough time to find […] Read more
U.S. EPA aims to allow dicamba use, with safeguards
Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is aiming to allow farmers to spray the controversial herbicide dicamba next year, but with additional rules for its use, an official with the agency said on Tuesday. Reuben Baris, acting chief of the herbicide branch of the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs, said the agency […] Read more
Bayer says needs more time for Monsanto deal approval
Monheim, Germany | Reuters — German drugs and pesticides group Bayer said Tuesday it was now likely to be early next year before it can complete its US$66 billion deal to acquire U.S. group Monsanto, later than previously expected. The European Commission has been scrutinizing the proposed takeover with a deadline of Jan. 8 but […] Read more
Storms worsen summer slump in U.S. diesel supply
New York | Reuters — U.S. diesel stockpiles did something this year that has never happened in the summer before: They shrank. And that was even before Hurricane Harvey landed, knocking out a quarter of U.S. refining capacity, crippling production of fuel products. Thanks to surprising summer demand, particularly from exports, inventories of diesel, jet […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
