File photo of vineyards and countryside at Samaipata in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes. (Jef Wodniack/iStock/Getty Images)

Bolivia farm region blocks borders, grain transport in protests

Reading Time: 3 minutes Santa Cruz/La Paz | Reuters — Protesters in Bolivia’s farming region of Santa Cruz are blocking highways out of the province, threatening to snarl the domestic transport of grains and food, as anger simmers following the arrest of local governor Luis Camacho. The region, a stronghold of the conservative opposition to socialist President Luis Arce, […] Read more

Manitoba’s Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority (LGCA) ran billboards such as this one in Winnipeg in 2019 to educate the public ahead of edibles’ entry to the recreational market. (Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. FDA reported weighing CBD regulation in food, supplements

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to make recommendations on how to regulate the use of popular cannabis compound CBD in food and supplements, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing agency officials. After weighing the evidence on the compound’s safety, the FDA will decide within months how to […] Read more


Justine Hendricks, shown here in a 2019 video, is the new CEO of Farm Credit Canada. (Elevate International video screengrab video via YouTube)

EDC executive to lead Farm Credit Canada

Justine Hendricks to replace retiring Michael Hoffort

Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s federal farm lender is importing its next chief executive from Export Development Canada. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced the appointment of Justine Hendricks, EDC’s senior vice-president and chief corporate sustainability officer since 2019, as FCC’s new CEO effective Jan. 30, 2023. As CEO, Hendricks replaces Michael Hoffort, an FCC staffer since […] Read more

(Lauri Patterson/E+/Getty Images)

U.S. brings new Canadian dairy tariff rate quota complaint

'Additional aspects' of Canadian rules now at issue

Reading Time: 3 minutes U.S. federal trade officials plan a whole other challenge of Canada’s allocations of tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on U.S. dairy imports — on top of a challenge they’re already seeking — saying they’ve now found Canada’s revised policies are problematic in new and different ways. Canada in May published revisions of its TRQ allocation policies […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feds open up consultations for sustainable ag strategy

Producer groups to have reps on advisory committee

Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal government has enlisted farm groups on the ground floor of consultations toward development of a long-term strategy to “amplify” the adoption and use of sustainable practices in agriculture over the next year. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Dec. 12 announced the launch of public consultations on strategy development, running from now through March […] Read more

Edible mealworms in a wooden spoon

French insect-based ingredients maker Ynsect to expand in North America

U.S. plant would use Ardent Mills' flour milling byproducts

Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — French company Ynsect said on Tuesday it had signed deals to build insect ingredient production sites in the United States and in Mexico as the firm kicks off what it says will be the world’s largest insect farm. Ynsect breeds mealworms that produce proteins for aquaculture, livestock, pet food, fertilizers and […] Read more


Louis Dreyfus’ oilseed processing plant at Yorkton, Sask. (LDC.com)

Commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus creates food solutions unit

Company to draw on existing oilseeds processing portfolio

Reading Time: < 1 minute Paris | Reuters — Agricultural commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus Co. (LDC) has created a food and feed solutions business line as part of efforts to diversify its activities in step with consumer trends, the company said on Tuesday. The new unit will focus on developing LDC’s presence in the lecithin, glycerine and specialty feed protein […] Read more

Around 20 per cent of Mexico’s corn imports from the U.S. are white corn, used to make food products such as tortillas. (Bhofack2/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. lawmakers call for action over Mexico’s GM corn ban

Mexico says it's working on revisions

Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers called on Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Friday to start consultations under the Canada-U.S.Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA) over Mexico’s ban on genetically modified (GM) corn and the herbicide glyphosate. The letter signed by 24 members of Congress and led by Republican Representative Adrian Smith […] Read more


Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis speaks on B.C. Agriculture Day in the provincial legislature on Oct. 25, 2022. (Legislative Assembly Of B.C. video screengrab via Facebook)

Former Mission, B.C. mayor named province’s ag minister

Pam Alexis handling agriculture; Lana Popham moves to tourism file

Reading Time: 2 minutes A rookie MLA and former city mayor from British Columbia’s farming-rich Fraser Valley has been named as the province’s new minister of agriculture and food. Premier David Eby, who assumed the post last month following John Horgan’s resignation, on Wednesday shuffled the provincial cabinet and named Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis to handle the ag and […] Read more

File photo of a suspension footbridge in Thailand. (Tinnakorn Jorruang/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada to boost defence, cyber security in Indo-Pacific policy

New policy document puts focus on 'disruptive' China

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada launched its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy on Sunday, outlining $2.3 billion in spending to boost military and cyber security in the region and vowed to deal with a “disruptive” China while working with it on climate change and trade issues. The plan detailed in a 26-page document said Canada will tighten […] Read more