Australian bidders gatecrash deal for country’s biggest landholding

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sydney | Reuters — Four of Australia’s wealthiest outback cattle families plan to make the first entirely domestic offer to buy S.Kidman and Co, the country’s largest private landholding, paying more than a rival bid of A$365 million (C$370.1 million), two of the quartet said. Kidman has already accepted a joint offer by Australia’s richest […] Read more



Stirling Creamery, which next month becomes part of dairy co-op Gay Lea Foods, is a sponsor of the butter sculpture displays at Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), including this sculpted butter tribute to city internet star Dead Raccoon TO. (StirlingCreamery.com)

Gay Lea to buy central Ontario butter maker

Reading Time: 2 minutes A U.S.-owned artisanal butter processor in central Ontario is set to become an arm of Ontario dairy co-operative Gay Lea Foods. Michigan-based butter producer Butterball Farms has agreed to sell Stirling Creamery, based at Stirling, Ont., north of Belleville, to Gay Lea effective Nov. 1. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, though Gay Lea […] Read more

Le Botanique, a Brussels-area greenhouse facility repurposed as a cultural centre and live music venue. (CIA.gov)

Belgian ‘Non’ blocks EU approval of CETA

Reading Time: 3 minutes Luxembourg | Reuters — EU governments failed on Tuesday to approve a free trade agreement with Canada, as continued opposition from French-speaking southern Belgium threatened the entire deal. Almost all 28 EU governments, whose ministers were meeting in Luxembourg, now back the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which would be the bloc’s first trade […] Read more


(EC.europa.eu)

Belgian ‘Non’ clouds EU meeting to approve CETA

Reading Time: 2 minutes Luxembourg | Reuters — European Union trade ministers meet in Luxembourg on Tuesday aiming to approve a free trade agreement with Canada but facing regional opposition in Belgium that threatens to scupper the entire deal. All 28 EU governments now back the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which would be the bloc’s first trade […] Read more

(USDec.org)

Dairy firms plan joint processing venture in Winnipeg

Reading Time: 2 minutes Manitoba dairy producers are expected to get a new outlet for their raw milk from a new joint venture to process butter and dairy ingredients in Winnipeg. Mississauga-based dairy co-operative Gay Lea Foods and ingredient processor Vitalus Nutrition of Abbotsford, B.C. on Monday announced a joint venture to be based at an unnamed “existing food […] Read more


(EC.europa.eu)

German court rejects bid to block Canada-EU trade deal

Reading Time: 3 minutes Berlin/Ottawa | Reuters –– Germany’s Constitutional Court cleared the government on Thursday to approve a free trade accord between the European Union and Canada under defined conditions, boosting the agreement’s chances of passing an EU vote next week. However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made clear he was losing patience with the EU over the […] Read more

A preserved portion of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany. (CIA.gov)

Germany’s top court hears CETA challenge

Reading Time: 2 minutes Karlsruhe, Germany | Reuters — Germany’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday began hearing a legal challenge to a planned EU-Canada free trade deal that could paralyze the accord. Three German activist groups handed in 125,000 signatures to the court in August in opposition to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which they fear will undermine […] Read more



Staff of Le Bulletin were presented Oct. 7 with ACRA’s Prix Roger-Blais. From left are awards jury president Yolaine Villeneuve, public and corporate affairs director of the Conseil des industriels laitiers du Quebec (CILQ); Le Bulletin editor Yvon Therien; writers Celine Normandin and Marie-Josee Parent; associate editor Marie-Claude Poulin; and writer Nicolas Mesly. (LACRA.net)

FBC earns national, provincial honours for farm coverage

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg farm publishing house Farm Business Communications has earned 13 national and provincial awards so far this fall for its news and feature coverage of issues in Canadian farming. FBC, an arm of Glacier FarmMedia, earned a total of 10 gold, silver and bronze awards on Oct. 1 from the Canadian Farm Writers Federation (CFWF), […] Read more