The Brousseau family of St. Paul, Alta.

Finding a way to say ‘Yes’

Saying ‘no’ to a multi-generation corporation has helped Richard and Nicole Brousseau find their own route toward succession, with a clear focus on family

Reading Time: 8 minutes The road to farm succession can have many twists and turns. And every farm is unique, so it can be easy to lose your way in all the options, or to fall into somebody else’s cookie-cutter solution. Yet being true to your own business and family needs should always come first, as the Brousseau family […] Read more

(CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

NAFTA ministers claim progress in talks

Reading Time: 3 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Trade Ministers from Canada, Mexico and the United States on Tuesday said they made progress in weekend talks to update the NAFTA trade pact, consolidating language for some proposals and reaffirming their commitment to complete negotiations toward the end of 2017. A trilateral statement issued by U.S. Trade Representative Robert […] Read more


(Video screengrab from CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Sharp differences over labour surface at NAFTA trade talks

Reading Time: 3 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Tensions over sharp differences in pay between Mexican workers and their Canadian and U.S. counterparts surfaced on Sunday as negotiators discussed labour market rules in talks to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada’s biggest private-sector union said NAFTA should be scrapped if Mexico cannot agree to better labour […] Read more

Finance Minister Bill Morneau, shown here at a Hunter River, P.E.I. farm in July, proposes a major overhaul to Canada’s tax code affecting private corporations. (Fin.gc.ca)

Farm groups line up against feds’ tax proposal

Reading Time: 3 minutes National, regional and sector farm groups are forming up with several major business associations on the offensive against a proposal to reform how incorporated businesses are taxed in Canada. The federal finance department tabled a series of proposals July 18, opening them for public comment until Oct. 2 for a proposed effective date of Jan. […] Read more


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks Aug. 23, 2017 at a Montreal charity event. (PM.gc.ca)

NAFTA talks resume in Mexico City

Reading Time: 3 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Trade negotiators from Canada and the U.S. gathered under rainy skies in Mexico City on Friday to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the mood darkened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s persistent threats to pull out. Teams from the three countries were due to kick off a second […] Read more

(OlympicDairy.com)

Agropur to take control of Iogo, Olympic yogurt maker

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ultima Foods, the Canadian maker of Iogo and Olympic yogurt products, is set to become the sole property of Quebec dairy producers’ co-op Agropur. Agropur and Agrifoods International Co-operative, which combined their yogurt manufacturing and marketing operations in 1993 to form Ultima as a 50-50 joint venture, announced a deal Thursday which will see Agropur […] Read more


Gerry Ritz won’t be coming back to the House of Commons in September. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Shannon VanRaes)

Ex-agriculture minister Gerry Ritz quits Commons

Reading Time: 2 minutes Gerry Ritz, the federal minister for agriculture and agri-food for nine years in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, is done with federal politics. The MP for the western Saskatchewan riding of Battlefords-Lloydminster since 1997, Ritz announced via Twitter Thursday morning that he “will not be returning to my seat in the House of Commons this fall.” […] Read more

Luc Berthold, shown here in April 2011 during his stint as mayor of Thetford Mines, Que., is the new lead Opposition critic for agriculture and agri-food. (Ville.ThetfordMines.qc.ca)

Federal Tories look east for ag critic

Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal Conservatives have tapped one of their rookie Quebec MPs as the new agriculture critic for Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Andrew Scheer, elected in May as the Tories’ new leader, on Wednesday announced his first shadow cabinet with Luc Berthold, the MP for Megantic-L’Erable, as agriculture and agri-food critic and John Barlow, MP for […] Read more


The retrofitted barn will make way for the study of precision monitoring and feeding systems in dairy cattle.

Dairy research facilities at Glenlea Research Station to be updated

$1.4-million slated to retrofit existing hog barn

Reading Time: 3 minutes Dairy research in Manitoba recently got a $1.4-million boost. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler made the announcement on Aug. 16, 2017, at the University of Manitoba, indicating the cash will be used to retrofit an existing hog barn for dairy research at the Glenlea Research Station, just south of Winnipeg. […] Read more