Reading Time: 2 minutes More types of livestock will be eligible and more types of security will be allowed for Canadian farmers to get federally-backed advance payments starting this year. Amendments to the Agricultural Marketing Programs Act (AMPA), made last February as part of the former Conservative government’s omnibus Agricultural Growth Act, have made regulatory changes possible for the […] Read more
Advance payment program widened, streamlined
Canada signs Trans-Pacific Partnership
Reading Time: 3 minutes Trade ministers from the 12 countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership have signed their trade agreement, committing them to take the deal to their home governments for review and/or approval. The deal, which Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland signed on Canada’s behalf on Thursday in Auckland, New Zealand, is expected to see tariffs on Canadian products in […] Read more
Georgia to accept Canadian breeding cattle, hogs
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canada may be able to move up to $2.5 million more in live breeding cattle and live breeding swine to the Black Sea region each year, with new market access to Georgia. The former Soviet country’s government will allow imports of Canadian breeding cattle and hogs effective immediately, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Trade Minister […] Read more
Drought-related tax deferral zones expand in West
Reading Time: 2 minutes More livestock producers in the West who had to sell breeding stock due to drought in the 2015 tax year will be able to defer some or most of that income at tax time. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Tuesday announced more designated areas in all four western provinces where producers will be eligible […] Read more
CN to challenge latest grain revenue penalty
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ordered to hand over more than $7 million in Prairie grain handling revenue and related fines for the 2014-15 crop year, Canadian National Railway now plans to challenge the bill in court. Montreal-based CN on Monday filed in the Federal Court of Appeal, seeking leave to appeal the Canadian Transportation Agency’s (CTA) Dec. 29 finding […] Read more
Tim Hortons, Burger King to move toward cage-free eggs
Reading Time: 3 minutes The owner of Canadian coffee-and-donut giant Tim Hortons and North America’s No. 2 burger chain, Burger King, has reset its goal to take the chains’ egg supplies “cage-free.” Restaurant Brands International, the parent firm for the two chains since their merger in late 2014, announced Monday it will move to 100 per cent cage-free eggs for […] Read more
N.S. fruit, maple syrup producers get AgriRecovery
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal and Nova Scotia provincial governments will put up AgriRecovery funding for tree fruit growers dealing with fire blight, and maple syrup producers dealing with snow damage. The two governments on Tuesday announced separate AgriRecovery programs, budgeted at up to $2.69 million for fruit growers and up to $950,000 for maple syrup producers. The […] Read more
Ducks Unlimited shifts forage incentive for Manitoba
Reading Time: 2 minutes A program encouraging Prairie farmers to improve waterfowl habitat by flipping cropland into hayland or pasture will continue the same this spring, except in Manitoba. The DUC/CPS forage program, offered by Ducks Unlimited Canada and Crop Production Services (CPS) Canada, will still see growers in Saskatchewan and Alberta get a rebate of $100 for each […] Read more
U.S. court upholds Enlist Duo registration
Reading Time: 2 minutes An appeals court has rejected the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) move to overturn its own registration for Dow AgroSciences’ Enlist Duo herbicide combo. The EPA in November had sought court approval to withdraw its previous registration for the proprietary glyphosate/2,4-D combination. The agency said it wanted to re-examine the product, which Enlist varieties of […] Read more
CN’s 2015 grain handle down, grain revenue up
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian National Railway’s (CN) fourth-quarter and full-year ledgers show lower traffic, but increased revenue, from its grain and fertilizer business in 2015, en route to record full-year earnings. Montreal-based CN on Tuesday reported overall net income of $3.538 billion on $12.611 billion in total revenues for 2015, up from $3.167 billion on $12.134 billion for […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
