Officials at the Aug. 13, 2020 rollout of the federal surplus food program included (l-r) Julie Marchand of Food Banks of Quebec, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, Claude Dulude of Nutri Group, Marie-Jose Mastromonaco of Second Harvest, Tania Little of Food Banks Canada and Serge Lefebvre of Nutri Group. (Photo courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Feds line up projects for surplus food program

NGOs backed to gather, distribute 12 million kg of food

Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal government has lined up eight projects to source and distribute perishable produce, meat, eggs and seafood piling up across Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the federal pandemic response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in early May that Ottawa would budget $50 million for a food surplus purchase program. The […] Read more

This file photo shows a rack of blood samples being tested for bovine tuberculosis in New Zealand dairy cattle. (Lakeview_Images/iStock/Getty Images)

Bovine TB probe wraps with no exact point of entry found

'More stringent' tests now being run on U.S. rodeo cattle imports

Reading Time: 3 minutes Federal inspectors have formally closed the book on a 2018 outbreak of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in a British Columbia cattle herd, but with “no definitive source of infection” found. The probe dates back to October that year, when a beef cow of an unknown age, from a cow-calf operation in B.C.’s southern Interior, was culled, […] Read more


(Conservative Party of Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

CPC leadership hopefuls list ending carbon tax as priority for agriculture

Party leadership candidates also look to strengthen trade relationships

Reading Time: 6 minutes Removing the carbon tax is the main priority for the two top Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership candidates, according to a recent survey. Peter MacKay and Erin O’Toole, considered the front-runners in a small field of leadership hopefuls, listed eliminating the environmental policy in response to a series of questions posed to them by […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Loblaw beats profit estimates as online sales surge

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Loblaw beat quarterly revenue and profit estimates on Thursday, driven by a near-fourfold jump in online sales, as stay-at-home Canadians used the retailer’s pickup and delivery services to stock up on bread, milk and eggs. With consumers still limiting their trips outdoors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said it would invest […] Read more


Steve Verheul, federal assistant deputy minister for trade policy and negotiations, speaks online to the Commons standing committee on international trade on July 9, 2020. (Video screengrab from Parlvu.parl.gc.ca)

Canada’s pace in trade talks with U.K. raising frustration

Doubts remain on potential benefits for Canadian farmers

Reading Time: 3 minutes The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) is expressing frustration over the pace at which Canada is engaging the United Kingdom toward a post-Brexit free trade deal. Steve Verheul, assistant deputy minister of trade policy and negotiations at Global Affairs Canada, told a parliamentary committee any deal between the two countries will be impacted by European […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Feds proposing to expand wage subsidy program

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian government wants to expand an emergency wage subsidy program so that all businesses suffering losses from the COVID-19 outbreak will benefit, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said on Friday. Morneau told a news conference that Ottawa would drop an earlier requirement stipulating that businesses needed to show a 30 per […] Read more


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U.S. court finds for California’s work with Quebec on carbon market

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — A U.S. federal district court has ruled that California’s co-ordination with Quebec in a cap-and-trade carbon emissions market is constitutional, a blow to the Trump administration made public in a filing late on Friday. In October, the Trump administration sued California for entering a climate agreement with Quebec, saying the state […] Read more

A view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

Non-essential travel limits extended at U.S. borders with Canada, Mexico

Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington/Ottawa | Reuters — Restrictions on non-essential travel at U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico will be extended through Aug. 21, Canada and the United States announced Thursday. “Canada and the United States have agreed to extend the current border measures by one month until Aug. 21, and we’re going to keep working closely […] Read more


Elanco Animal Health CEO Jeff Simmons speaks during an interview at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Sept. 20, 2018. (Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

Elanco Animal Health wins U.S. approval to buy Bayer unit

Elanco to shed cattle pour-on brand, others for approval

Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — Elanco Animal Health has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy Bayer’s animal health business on condition that it sell assets to treat three ailments, two in dogs and one in cattle, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday. The deal was valued at $7.6 billion when it was announced in August […] Read more

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China reports lumpy skin disease outbreaks in cattle

Reading Time: < 1 minute Beijing | Reuters — China is facing outbreaks of a debilitating virus in cattle that causes a condition called lumpy skin disease, following an incident on a farm in the eastern province of Zhejiang this week, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. On its website, the ministry of agriculture and rural affairs said five cases […] Read more