Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s final map of designated areas for the livestock tax deferral provision for the 2018 tax year, as of Jan. 30, 2019. (Agr.gc.ca)

Livestock tax deferral map expands again for 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Some northern and southwestern Ontario producers who had to sell breeding livestock due to drought in the 2018 tax year can now defer chunks of the income from those sales when filing their income taxes. The federal government on Wednesday rolled out its final list and map of designated regions for 2018 under its livestock […] Read more

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s map of deferral-designated areas for the 2018 tax year as of Oct. 25, 2018. (Agr.gc.ca)

Unusual third assessment run for livestock tax deferrals

Reading Time: 2 minutes In an unusual move, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has undertaken a third assessment for the federal livestock tax deferral. “Federal officials are currently finalizing the analysis to identify whether any additional regions have met the criteria for the livestock tax deferral,” AAFC spokesperson James Watson said. Under the deferral plan, cattle producers affected by severe […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. judge to allow controversial evidence in Roundup cancer trials

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — A federal judge overseeing lawsuits alleging Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide causes cancer on Monday tentatively allowed pieces of controversial evidence that the company had hoped to exclude from upcoming trials. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria during a hearing in San Francisco federal court called his decision “probably most disappointing for Monsanto,” the Bayer […] Read more

USDA’s main home page on Jan. 11, 2019. (GFM Staff photo)

USDA to reopen all farm agency offices

Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday it will reopen all Farm Service Agency offices on Thursday to offer services to farmers and ranchers during the partial government shutdown. Some Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices had been providing limited services since Jan. 17, but the move means all of the agency’s […] Read more


(Video screengrab from BJordan.liberal.ca)

Rural development strategy sought in federal shuffle

Reading Time: 2 minutes Rural economic development has been given a promotion at the federal level in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest cabinet shuffle. In the shuffle, following the departure of Treasury Board president Scott Brison from cabinet, Trudeau on Monday called up Bernadette Jordan, MP for the southern Nova Scotia riding of South Shore-St.Margaret’s, to head a newly […] Read more

File photo of a Brazilian coffee plantation. (Sidney de Almeida/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazil plans to fight invasions by landless workers

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brasilia | Reuters — Brazil’s right-wing government under President Jair Bolsonaro will seek to classify invasions of farmland by landless workers movements as akin to terrorism, with harsher penalties for perpetrators, an agriculture ministry official said on Monday. Nabhan Garcia, land issues secretary at the ministry, said the government must convince the National Congress to […] Read more



(Video screengrab from Enlist.com)

Assure herbicide’s active ingredient under new ownership

Reading Time: 2 minutes Now being put to work in Enlist corn, the active ingredient in Assure II herbicide has a new owner. California-based American Vanguard Corp., the owner of ag chemical producer Amvac Chemical, announced Thursday it has bought the quizalofop-p-ethyl (QPE) product line of herbicides from DowDuPont’s ag division, Corteva Agriscience, for an undisclosed sum. A Group […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prairie grain prices higher than last year

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Nice weather over the holidays allowed for good movement of feed grains in Western Canada, with prices steady to above year-ago levels. “I would say we cruised through Christmas and (the) New Year holidays fairly well. Not a lot of massive panic. We had nice weather which really helped, loads continued to […] Read more

A file photo of Brazil’s Mata Atlantica (Atlantic rainforest). (FG Trade/E+/Getty Images)

Bolsonaro gives Brazil farm ministry powers on indigenous land

Reading Time: 3 minutes Rio de Janeiro/Brasilia | Reuters — New Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro issued an executive order on Wednesday making the agriculture ministry responsible for deciding on lands claimed by indigenous peoples, in a victory for agribusiness that will likely enrage environmentalists. The temporary decree, which will expire unless it is ratified within 120 days by Congress, […] Read more