Reading Time: 2 minutes Food and beverages sales increased in Canada last year, even as margins hit an historic low and consumers chose Canadian less. According to the latest FCC Food and Beverage Report, released Tuesday, sales increased 11 per cent to $156 billion in 2022. These gains came largely from higher export values and strength in the grain […] Read more
Food sales grew but margins tightened in 2022, FCC says
Modest further growth expected this year
Federal report shows farmer concerns remain regarding emissions targets
AAFC report polled farmers, industry for thoughts on fertilizer emissions policy
Reading Time: 2 minutes A new Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) report shows farmers remain concerned about federal emissions reduction targets — and whether those targets remain voluntary. The “What We Heard” Report, released Wednesday, is the result of consultations between AAFC and the agricultural sector to gather feedback on how best to support farmers and producers to achieve […] Read more
B.C. farmers granted late entry for AgriStability
Avian flu, 'extreme weather' events considered
Reading Time: 3 minutes With bird flu outbreaks and last spring’s weather woes in mind, farmers and ranchers in British Columbia are now spotted until the end of June to enrol in AgriStability. The province and the federal ag department on Tuesday announced they’ve agreed on a late participation option for the 2022 program year. In this case, the […] Read more
Adama’s lambda-cy products to be available this year
Company to continue selling Silencer, Zivata after recall
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Canadian arm of ag chem firm Adama says it’s relabelled its inventories of lambda-cyhalothrin insecticide products Silencer and Zivata and will have them available for sale to farmers in 2023. The company had said last November it wasn’t yet sure those products would be available this year under an approaching deadline following a 2021 […] Read more
North Korea’s Kim demands more farmland to boost food production
Reading Time: 2 minutes Seoul | Reuters — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered improvements to infrastructure and expansion of farmland to ramp up food production, state media said on Thursday, amid warnings of an impending food crisis. Kim gave instructions to revamp irrigation systems, build modern farming machines and create more arable land as he wrapped up […] Read more
‘Normal’ spring ahead for most of the Prairies
Below-normal rains expected for southern Alberta, western Saskatchewan
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canada’s Prairies are looking at normal temperatures over the next month to three months, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). The federal department on Tuesday issued its temperature and precipitation probabilistic forecasts, which also called for normal precipitation for most of the region. “The forecast is really neutral for the Prairies, […] Read more
Nova Scotia to bridge Fiona funding gap for farmers
Provincial program offering up to $400K per farm
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nova Scotia farmers who didn’t qualify for federal disaster financial assistance (DFA) in the wake of Hurricane Fiona last September may be able to get in on a new provincial program instead. The province on Thursday announced $3 million for what it calls the Fiona Agriculture Response Gap Funding program, offering up to $400,000 for […] Read more
Multi-million-dollar fund greenlights soil health projects
Eight projects to push soil health practices will get funding for the next five years
Reading Time: 2 minutes Eight soil health projects across Canada will be getting a multi-million-dollar boost in private funding over the next five years. The Weston Family Foundation — the philanthropic arm of the Weston business empire — has slated $10 million for those eight projects through the organization’s soil health initiative, it was announced Feb. 13. The initiative […] Read more
Grow food anywhere
New Canadian startup Growcer already has 50 “vertical farms” in place in Canada. Get ready for a whole lot more
Reading Time: 5 minutes In Canada’s northern regions, where the growing season is so short it can seem non-existent in any agricultural sort of way, fresh food from California and Mexico is not only expensive due to the transportation costs; all too often, it is no longer fresh. After experiencing first-hand how the high cost of fresh, healthy food […] Read more
Feds appoint new deputy ag minister, CFIA chief
Eleven senior civil servants shuffled
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s government has lined up a new federal deputy minister for agriculture and a new president for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, both to take office later this month. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a shuffle in the top ranks of the public service involving 11 senior managers following four recent retirements. Associate […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
