Reading Time: 2 minutes A lockout has begun at Canadian Pacific Railway affecting its 3,000-odd unionized engineers, conductors and train and yard service staff, effectively shutting down CP service. “The work stoppage has begun, but CP and (the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference) are still at the table with federal mediators,” federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said in a statement […] Read more
CP engineers, conductors locked out; talks continue
'Parties are working through the night': O'Regan
Saskatchewan to license, limit wild boar farming
Moratorium placed on any new farms
Reading Time: 2 minutes Saskatchewan is tightening its rules on wild boar farming, including a moratorium on any new farms, in a renewed bid to keep the province’s feral pig population in check. The provincial ag ministry announced the moratorium Wednesday and said it’s “developing regulations for licensing existing commercial wild boar farms.” Regulations for wild boar and feral […] Read more
Nutrien to produce ‘most potash ever’ in 2022
Company to ramp up production in response to Ukraine conflict
Reading Time: 2 minutes The world’s biggest potash-producing company is set to produce more potash in 2022 due to “uncertainty of potash supply” coming out of Eastern Europe. Saskatoon-based Nutrien, which has an estimated 20 million tonnes of potash-mining capacity across six mines in Saskatchewan, said Wednesday it plans to boost its output for 2022 to 15 million tonnes, […] Read more
CP to lock out engineers, conductors starting Sunday
'Cannot prolong the uncertainty,' CEO says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadian Pacific Railway has served its unionized engineers, conductors and train and yard service staff with notice of a lockout to start just after midnight ET on Sunday, unless the company and union agree on a new labour deal by then. Calgary-based CP and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP […] Read more
Antitrust probe in ag inputs dropped
Communications over FBN still 'concerning,' Competition Bureau says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Allegations suggesting ag chem sector players tried to derail an online farm-supply firm’s business in Western Canada haven’t turned up enough evidence for federal regulators to probe the matter further. Canada’s Competition Bureau announced Tuesday it’s now closed an investigation it launched in 2019 over allegations brought forward by the Canadian arm of Farmers Business […] Read more
Saskatchewan pushes crop insurance deadline to mid-April
'Logistical challenges' led to extension
Reading Time: < 1 minute Saskatchewan farmers will get an extra couple of weeks to apply for, cancel, reinstate or change their crop insurance contracts for 2022, due to holdups in the delivery of their application packages. That deadline, originally March 31, has now been extended to April 14, provincial Ag Minister David Marit and his federal counterpart Marie-Claude Bibeau […] Read more
Maple Leaf to further consolidate Ontario poultry packing
Schomberg, Ont. plant to close by end of 2023
Reading Time: 2 minutes Maple Leaf Foods’ ongoing plan to consolidate its fresh poultry processing at London, Ont. now also includes the work from two more existing plants it owns north of Toronto. Maple Leaf said Wednesday that in “pursuing further optimization opportunities,” it will shift poultry volumes now processed at Bradford and nearby Schomberg to the new London […] Read more
P.E.I. testing finds potato wart in another field
Testing stemmed from last October's detection
Reading Time: 2 minutes Soil samples taken on Prince Edward Island following detections of potato wart last fall have turned up another field with the fungus that causes the disease. The P.E.I. Potato Board on Tuesday said the field in question is near to, and is “directly associated” with, a field where the soil-borne disease was found in October. […] Read more
JBS to help fund home purchases for Brooks staff
Company offering zero-interest loans for down payments
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the biggest beef packers operating in Canada is pledging $1.7 million for a one-year pilot program to help employees buy or upgrade homes. JBS Foods Canada, which operates Brazilian meat packer JBS’s plant at Brooks, Alta., on Tuesday announced the launch of what it calls the “Homebuyer Dream Fund,” providing zero-interest loans to […] Read more
CP conductors vote in favour of mid-March strike action
Reading Time: 3 minutes Unionized conductors and train and yard service staff with Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) have voted in favour of strike action which could begin as early as March 16. The Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference – Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY) announced Monday that a strike vote it conducted through February went 96.7 per cent in favour […] Read more