Geneva | Reuters — Massive farm-support plans in the United States and India are being scrutinized by other World Trade Organization members, questions submitted to the WTO’s quarterly agriculture committee meeting showed on Monday. The WTO has strict rules about the size and nature of payments, and member governments keep a close watch for any […] Read more
Trump and Modi’s lavish farm payouts prompt questions at WTO
Ag minister announces launch of Canadian food policy
Canada has its first food policy, an initiative to increase access to safe, nutritious and culturally diverse food, and to cut food waste. Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of agriculture and agri-food and parliamentary secretary, Jean-Claude Poissant made the announcement Monday in Montreal. “The Food Policy for Canada is our road map for a healthier and more […] Read more
Senior P.E.I. ag official to fill deputy minister post
The post of top bureaucrat in Prince Edward Island’s agriculture department now has its third occupant in as many months. Premier Dennis King on June 7 named Brian Matheson, previously director of policy and agriculture resources at the agriculture and land department, as its acting deputy minister, replacing Laurie Loane. Loane, who’d been named deputy […] Read more
Cannabis edibles clear for legal launch before year-end
Food products containing cannabis are expected to be on the retail market by mid-December at the earliest under new federal regulations announced Friday. Health Canada on Friday announced amendments to the Cannabis Regulations will be published June 26 to come into force Oct. 17, laying out rules for legal production and sale of edible cannabis, […] Read more
Agricultural plastics not part of federal ban
The federal government’s plan to halt Canada’s consumption of single-use plastics such as shopping bags, straws and stir sticks over the next couple of years won’t extend to farm chemical containers and grain bags. Cleanfarms, the national industry stewardship body operating waste management and recycling programs for agricultural packaging, said Thursday that plastic products such […] Read more
Bayer to invest $7.5 billion in new herbicides
Berlin | Reuters — Bayer said it would invest five billion euros (C$7.5 billion) in developing new weedkillers and reducing its environmental impact by 30 per cent by 2030, as it seeks to address the fallout from U.S. class-action litigation over glyphosate. “While glyphosate will continue to play an important role in agriculture and in […] Read more
Long-running growing project finds land at last moment
Reading Time: 2 minutes It was a close call, but one of the country’s longest-running Canadian Foodgrains Bank growing projects has successfully seeded its 24th crop. “We did not secure this 70 acres until May 6, which is very late,” Doug Maas, a member of the Central Alberta Growing Project committee, said in an email. “Our committee was looking […] Read more
Ginseng exports not in trouble as claimed
MarketsFarm — China has not halted its ginseng imports from Canada despite allegations to the contrary, a spokesperson from Ginseng Ontario says. Rebecca Coates, executive director for Ginseng Ontario, said China is only one of many export destinations for Canadian-grown ginseng. Other major buyers include Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Europe. An official from another […] Read more
Trump simplifies reviews of genetically modified farm products
Council Bluffs | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday directing federal agencies to streamline the review process for agricultural biotechnology including genetically modified livestock and seeds. Trump signed the order during a visit to an ethanol plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The executive order, he said, would “speed up […] Read more
New marine fuel rules to boost diesel prices for at least a year, analysts say
Houston | Reuters — Global prices for diesel and marine fuels should rise by October ahead of a January switchover to new, very low-sulphur marine fuels, and remain higher for at least a year as refiners shift production to make more of the new fuels, analysts said. Marine fuels containing no more than 0.5 per […] Read more
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