Reading Time: 3 minutes With recommendations in hand, the Ontario government plans to clear a path for the use of two soon-to-be-former University of Guelph ag campuses as new community-backed ag schools. The province on Friday laid out its response to last month’s recommendations from its appointed facilitators, Lyle Vanclief and Marc Godbout, on the future of Guelph’s Kemptville […] Read more
Ont. to seek community ownership for ex-Guelph ag campuses
U.S. defense of COOL goes to WTO in February
Reading Time: 2 minutes The U.S. government will have its day at the World Trade Organization next month, as its defense of its mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) laws for retail meat is now booked for an oral hearing. The WTO’s Appellate Body division has scheduled its hearing of the U.S. government’s appeal for Feb. 16 and 17 at WTO […] Read more
New conditions placed on P.E.I. potato exports to U.S.
Reading Time: 2 minutes Potato wart’s appearance in another Prince Edward Island potato field in August has led to a new round of rules for the province’s potato exports to the U.S. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Monday announced new requirements effective “immediately” for such exports, citing the detection of potato wart in 23 fields in the […] Read more
Canada expands blocks on U.S. poultry, eggs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s avian flu-related ban on imports of poultry, birds and eggs from Washington and Oregon has been expanded to include the same products from California and Idaho. The ban was expanded after outbreaks of avian flu in poultry in the past week in both states, including a backyard flock of chickens in Idaho infected with […] Read more
Grain handle up as CN books record freight in 2014
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian National Railway (CN) reported increased revenue from a higher grain and fertilizer handle as part of its “record full-year freight volumes” for fiscal 2014. The railway on Tuesday released fourth-quarter and 12-month results, booking substantially higher revenues and profit in 2014 over 2013. Montreal-based CN reported $844 million in net income on $3.207 billion […] Read more
Nova Scotia MP named parliamentary ag secretary
Reading Time: < 1 minute A promotion at the federal Tories’ cabinet table has led to the appointment of a new parliamentary secretary on the agriculture file. Gerald Keddy, MP for the Nova Scotia riding of South Shore-St. Margaret’s since 1997, was named Friday to replace Ontario MP Pierre Lemieux as parliamentary secretary for Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. Lemieux, the […] Read more
Green group targets Super Bowl’s official hummus
Reading Time: < 1 minute If you’re a chickpea grower and you didn’t already know it, you’ll be pleased to hear Americans watching the Super Bowl this weekend might not only be chowing down on chicken wings. Thanks to its designation as the National Football League’s (NFL) official dip sponsor, they could also be dipping into Sabra brand hummus, of […] Read more
CP books record profit, more grain revenue in 2014
Reading Time: 2 minutes Increased revenue from Canadian and U.S. grain traffic alike helped boost Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to a record full-year profit in 2014. Calgary-based CP on Thursday reported net income of $1.476 billion on $6.62 billion for the year ending Dec. 31, up from $875 million on $6.133 billion in 2013. For its fourth quarter, the […] Read more
Work stoppage possible for CN engineers in mid-February
Reading Time: 2 minutes The union for engineers on Canadian National Railway’s (CN) trains warns a work stoppage could come as early as mid-February barring progress in talks with the company. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said Thursday CN has “refused” to extend conciliation talks, now due to end Saturday, by another 60 days. The engineers’ last collective […] Read more
Lethbridge College to set up farm BRM curriculum
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the first initiatives to be set up in Lethbridge College’s new agribusiness program will be a business risk management curriculum, drafted in a new partnership with the province’s cattle feeders association. The college and Alberta Cattle Feeders Association announced Wednesday they’ll jointly develop programming to be “offered in a variety of delivery modes […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
