File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario to extend labour-related crop loss coverage

Losses due to COVID-19-related labour disruptions covered

Reading Time: 2 minutes A temporary crop insurance expansion that covers Ontario farms against crop losses due to “on-farm labour disruptions” caused by COVID-19 will be held over for yet another year. Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, announced in late December the feature first introduced in 2020 will be included again in 2022, at the same coverage […] Read more

File photo of a chickpea crop in India. (Nikhil Patil/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Chickpea prices reverse direction

Markets correcting lower, buyer says

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The chickpea market in Western Canada is undergoing a correction, according to the manager of a pulse buying and processing company in Saskatchewan. With the exception of Desi chickpeas, all varieties of the pulse have seen prices go down two to five cents per pound over the past month, according to Prairie Ag […] Read more


File photo of wheat plants in Afghanistan. (PK Ahmad/iStock/Getty Images)

Taliban increase payment in wheat as economic crisis deepens

Reading Time: 2 minutes Kabul | Reuters — Afghanistan’s Taliban administration said on Tuesday it was expanding its ‘food for work’ program, in which it uses donated wheat to pay thousands of public sector employees instead of cash as a financial crisis intensifies. Wheat, largely donated by India to the previous U.S.-backed Kabul government, is being used to pay […] Read more

Indian pork curry with naan bread. (Paul_Brighton/iStock/Getty Images)

India to allow imports of U.S. pork and products

Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — India has agreed to allow imports of U.S. pork and pork products into India, removing a longstanding barrier to U.S. agricultural trade, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Monday. “India’s agreement to allow U.S. pork imports for the first time is great news for U.S. […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Canada resists pressure to drop vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing ahead with a vaccine mandate for international truckers despite increasing pressure from critics who say it will exacerbate driver shortages and drive up the price of goods imported from the United States. Canada will require all truckers entering from the U.S. to show proof […] Read more

Bulalo, a Filipino soup dish made with boiled bone-in beef shank. (Jun Pinzon/iStock/Getty Images)

China, Philippines suspend beef imports from Canada on BSE case

Reading Time: < 1 minute Winnipeg | Reuters –– China and the Philippines have suspended imports of Canadian beef due to Canada’s detection in December of a cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a spokesperson for Canada’s agriculture department said on Monday. The moves follow an import suspension by South Korea last month, after Canada reported its first BSE […] Read more


Jennifer Hayes. (CDC-ccl.ca)

New chair named for Canadian Dairy Commission

Appointment still leaves board shorthanded

Reading Time: 2 minutes Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has hired from within the Canadian Dairy Commission to get it a new chairperson. Bibeau on Tuesday announced Quebec dairy farmer Jennifer Hayes as the CDC’s new chair for a four-year term starting Dec. 23, 2021. Hayes, who had served as commissioner on the CDC’s three-person board since January 2017, […] Read more

(Lauri Patterson/E+/Getty Images)

Canada violated CUSMA pact by reserving dairy quotas, panel finds

Canada 'will ensure compliance,' trade minister's rep says

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Canada violated a trade accord with the U.S. and Mexico by reserving most of its preferential dairy tariff-rate quotas for Canadian processors, a dispute panel found, and Washington warned it could retaliate if Ottawa did not change course. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office claimed victory for Washington in the first dispute […] Read more



Jewel Gomes, an agronomist from the Philippines, experiments with plants from around the world in backyard trials.

City-bred farm workers

Is your next employee working today on an urban farm in Toronto?

Reading Time: 5 minutes In cities like Vancouver and Toronto, urban farms are creating a new pathway for the next generation of Canada’s farmers and farm workers, whether these young people see themselves destined for city or, indeed, rural operations. Toronto Urban Growers (TUG), a non-profit network that connects growers and facilitates knowledge sharing between them, will work with […] Read more