A+W’s Beyond Meat Burger. (A+W/CNW Group)

A+W to launch pulseburger next month

Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s second-biggest burger chain plans to roll out a new non-meat burger in the Canadian market starting in July. A+W Food Services of Canada on Thursday announced a July 9 release date for what it’s dubbed the Beyond Meat Burger at all its restaurants across the country, in what CEO Susan Senecal called “the fastest […] Read more

Primo’s “Rustic Beef Barley” soup. (PrimoHeartySoups.ca)

Soup maker Baxters sells Canadian arm

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian business of Scottish soup and condiment maker Baxters Food Group is back in Canadian hands, including private, public and labour-sponsored Quebec investors. Provincial venture capital firm Investissement Quebec and labour-sponsored Fonds de solidarite FTQ and Fondaction announced Tuesday they would each put up $8 million, plus an unspecified amount from investors led by […] Read more


U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a meeting of the National Space Council in the East Room of the White House in Washington on June 18. (Photo: Reuters/Leah Millis)

Trump’s tariff war threatens to erode support of farmers

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — President Donald Trump’s tariff battle with key buyers of U.S. apples, soybeans and corn threatens the support of some of his biggest backers — U.S. farmers now seeing their livelihoods in jeopardy. Farmers overwhelmingly supported Trump in the 2016 election, welcoming how he championed rural economies and vowed to repeal estate […] Read more

McCain’s one-year multi-species blend contains 13 species, including spring oats, balansa clover, Austrian winter peas and sunflower.

2 covers — 25 species

P.E.I. potato growers are exploring diverse approaches to solve their low organic matter levels with cover crops

Reading Time: 6 minutes Soil organic matter has become a popular topic of discussion in the past year. In Ontario, a report from late 2016 indicated soil organic matter (SOM) levels in many parts of the province are at 15-year lows, coinciding with increasing interest in the use of cover crops, reduced- or no-till management and longer rotations in […] Read more


(Video screengrab from Mapaq.gouv.qc.ca)

Quebec ag minister won’t run again

Reading Time: < 1 minute With just under four months before the province’s next election, Quebec’s current minister of agriculture, food and fisheries won’t be in the running. Laurent Lessard ended weeks of speculation Friday when he announced he won’t seek a sixth term as the MNA for Lotbiniere-Frontenac. In a statement on Facebook, Lessard, 55, thanked his constituents for […] Read more

(PutPorkOnYourFork.com)

Mexico hits back on U.S. steel, slaps tariffs on pork, bourbon

Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico responded in kind to U.S. President Donald Trump’s metals tariffs by imposing its own duties on U.S. steel on Tuesday, while also targeting politically sensitive agricultural products from pork to bourbon. Mexico’s peso tumbled to its weakest level since February 2017, leading losses among major currencies due to the […] Read more


Bayer’s wheat breeding station at Pike Lake, Sask., southwest of Saskatoon. (Cropscience.bayer.com)

Canada clears Bayer’s Monsanto play, with conditions

Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s Competition Bureau says it’s “actively reviewing” BASF’s suitability as a buyer of the crop seed and chemical assets Bayer has to sell to get the bureau’s blessing to buy Monsanto. The Competition Bureau said Wednesday it has an agreement with Bayer to deal with “concerns that the proposed transaction would have significantly harmed competition […] Read more

"Once you’re able to grow a successful crop, only a quarter of your work is done,” says Nick VanBerlo.

Finding the right niche

If it makes you shake your head that these two large, sophisticated farms are focusing on, of all things, sweet potatoes as the right crop to build their futures on, listen to them explain why

Reading Time: 7 minutes In just a couple of pockets across the country, it’s estimated Canada is growing about 1,800 acres of sweet potatoes. About 1,100 of them are grown by Berlo’s Best. Why? The reason is partly what you might expect. Canadian demand for sweet potatoes has skyrocketed. Ethnic markets are booming, sales of new products like sweet […] Read more



(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Walmart patents hint at future where its drones tend the farms

Reading Time: 3 minutes New York/Chicago | Reuters — Walmart’s patent filings hint that it may see a future where farmers use its drones to not only spot crop problems but selectively apply chemicals or even disperse pollen to bring shoppers the freshest and cheapest food possible. The world’s largest retailer applied for six patents last year on drones […] Read more