Reading Time: 3 minutes Montreal/Ottawa | Reuters — A swath of Canada better known for maple syrup is being tested to mass produce berries normally grown in warmer locales, making it the unexpected beneficiary of extreme weather, local demand and rising costs in traditional growing areas like California. Driscoll’s and grower-owned Naturipe Farms, two of North America’s largest fruit […] Read more
Drought, costs bring U.S. berry giants to maple syrup land
U.S. firms testing commercial production in Quebec, Ontario
B.C. cherries cleared for export to Korea
Canada-Korea free trade pact a step ahead on lower tariffs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s seven-year-old free trade pact with South Korea already provides for reduced tariffs on cherries from British Columbia — a commodity that’s just been approved for export to Korea for the first time starting this month. Canadian agriculture and food safety officials announced Aug. 10 that talks with Seoul on import rules and certifications had […] Read more
China’s farmers struggle to save crops as heatwave, drought drag on
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chongqing | Reuters — As the tinder-dry countryside along China’s Yangtze river basin withers under a heatwave that has lasted more than two months, veteran farmer Chen Xiaohua recalled the last severe drought to hit his crops more than 60 years ago. “This year is drier than 1960,” said Chen, 68, from his plot of […] Read more
Quebec’s UPA hit by ransomware attack
Farm organization, affiliate bodies affected
Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec’s overarching farmer organization, l’Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), has confirmed its computer systems were hit by a ransomware attack earlier this month. UPA, in a release last Thursday, said it’s working with a cybersecurity firm to analyze the nature and scope of the attack, as well as any possible solutions to securely restore its […] Read more
Russia to ban some imports of seeds from Canada, Europe
Canada's Prograin soybean seed on list
Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow | Reuters — Russia will ban imports of some seeds from several locations in Europe and Canada from Aug. 15, its agriculture safety watchdog said on Thursday, citing non-compliance by suppliers with phytosanitary requirements as the reason. Imports of tomato and carrot seeds will be banned from a nursery of Satimex Quedlinburg, in Germany, […] Read more
Fairfax proposes takeover of Recipe dining group
Chains include The Keg, Swiss Chalet, Harvey's
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Recipe Unlimited Corp. said on Tuesday shareholder and investment firm Fairfax Financial Holdings has proposed to take the Canadian restaurant operator private for $1.23 billion, sending its shares up nearly 50 per cent. The offer price marks a premium of more than 53 per cent to Recipe’s last close. The shares have fallen […] Read more
Market value alone is selling nature short, governments told
Economic valuations needed but 'not sufficient,' co-chair says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — What is the value of a river? Is it for the nutritional content of the fish it sustains? The economic benefit of the local livelihoods it supports? Or does the river have its own value which humans cannot measure? Such questions may seem removed from the issues the world faces, from deepening climate […] Read more
Bayer, BASF win new trial on damage award in U.S. dicamba suit
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Bayer and BASF have won a new trial on US$60 million in punitive damages they were ordered to pay a Missouri peach farmer who said dicamba, a herbicide they produced, drifted onto his orchard and harmed his crops. The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a federal jury was wrongly told […] Read more
CUSMA leaders to discuss agreement during Mexico visit
Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters — U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will discuss terms of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) agreement, which was ratified in 2018, during a visit to Mexico, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday. “We’ll have a summit to discuss terms of the trade agreement treaty… in Mexico,” […] Read more
Health Canada to slap warning labels on sugary, salty and fatty foods
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters – Foods high in sugars, sodium and saturated fat will come with clear warning labels in Canada starting in 2026, the federal government said on Thursday, in an effort to promote healthier eating choices and reduce chronic health risks. “We know that it’s not always easy to make healthy choices,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
