(Staff photo)

La Coop federee to rebrand agribusiness arm

Reading Time: 2 minutes Crop and livestock producers dealing with the agribusiness division of Quebec’s La Coop federee can expect to see a new name in the game early next year. La Coop announced Sept. 25 it will change the name of the division — which today operates under the Elite and La Coop brand names — to Sollio […] Read more

Point de presse de M. François Legault, chef du deuxième groupe d’opposition, et M. André Andre Lamontagne, shown here at left at a press conference in May 2017 with CAQ leader Francois Legault, is Quebec’s new agriculture minister. (Video screengrab from AssNat.qc.ca)

CAQ taps businessman as Quebec’s new ag minister

Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec’s new governing party has turned to one of its more experienced MNAs to handle the farm file. Premier Francois Legault on Thursday named Andre Lamontagne, a businessman and former supermarket owner and the MNA for the southwestern riding of Johnson, as his minister of agriculture, fisheries and food, and as minister responsible for the […] Read more



CAQ leader Francois Legault shakes hands with supporters in Quebec City on Oct. 1, 2018. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Wattie)

CAQ’s ag critic among winners in Quebec election

Reading Time: < 1 minute The agriculture critic for Francois Legault’s Coalition avenir Quebec (CAQ) will be among the party’s returning MNAs as it forms Quebec’s next government. The CAQ pulled a majority government in Monday’s election with 74 seats, defeating Philippe Couillard’s Liberals, who were reduced to 32 seats, followed by Quebec solidaire with 10 seats and the Parti […] Read more


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Outrage, acceptance greet Son of NAFTA

Reading Time: 7 minutes Responses from Canada’s farm sectors range from acceptance to anger as concessions and market access granted under the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) come into clearer view. Dairy: ‘Who needs an enemy?’ The new agreement, announced Sunday and dubbed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by the U.S. government, is expected to […] 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)

Canada sticks to plan to stay at NAFTA talks despite Trump attack

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada on Thursday shrugged off U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism that talks to modernize NAFTA were moving too slowly and made clear it had to keep negotiating as long as there was a chance of success. The prospects for a quick deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement appeared […] Read more


U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer testifies at a Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington on July 26, 2018 on proposed budget estimates for the Office of the USTR. (Photo: Reuters/Mary F. Calvert)

Canada not making concessions needed for NAFTA deal, says U.S.

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Canada is not making concessions needed to reach a deal with the U.S. for a trilateral NAFTA pact and is running out of time before Washington proceeds with a Mexico-only agreement, a top U.S. official said on Tuesday. The administration of President Donald Trump has recently begun increasing the pressure […] Read more

(FarmBoy.ca)

Sobeys parent to buy fresh-food grocer Farm Boy

Reading Time: 2 minutes The owner of the Sobeys and Canada Safeway chains has a deal in place to buy southern Ontario grocery retailer Farm Boy, a well known patron of the region’s producers. In a deal still subject to review by the federal Competition Bureau, Empire Co. announced Monday it will pay $800 million for the grocery chain, […] Read more


A Mexican port-of-entry sign on Highway 92 near Naco, Arizona. (Rex_Wholster/iStock/Getty Images)

Mexico says will seek deal with Canada if NAFTA talks fail

Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico’s incoming government will pursue a bilateral deal with Canada if talks to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement falter, Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday. After more than a year of talks to modernize the NAFTA trade pact between the United States, Mexico and Canada, […] Read more