Reading Time: 2 minutes Agropur is getting a second nine-figure cash injection from a group of Quebec institutional investors and banks, further backing the major Quebec dairy farmer co-operative’s expansion plans against an uncertain domestic market. The investor group, led by Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), said Thursday it will put up $300 million, on top […] Read more
Que. banks, funds boost stake in Agropur
Dairy support price gets boost starting Feb. 1
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s dairy farmers can expect a two per cent bump in their overall revenue from industrial milk sales starting Feb. 1 next year. Citing dairy producers’ increased costs of production, the Canadian Dairy Commission on Wednesday announced its support price of butter will increase effective Feb. 1 to $7.7815 per kilogram, from $7.4046 currently. Its […] Read more
Parmalat gets GF2 funds for new Winnipeg milk plant
Reading Time: 2 minutes Dairy giant Parmalat is set to get federal and Manitoba government funding toward its planned new $50 million milk plant in Winnipeg. The two levels of government on Tuesday pledged $2.5 million toward the construction of Parmalat’s new dairy plant at an industrial park in the city’s St. Boniface area, about seven km east of […] Read more
N.L. agrifoods file moves to new minister
Reading Time: < 1 minute Newfoundland and Labrador’s Forestry and Agrifoods Agency, which oversees public policy for the province’s livestock, crops and agrifood sectors, is again getting new management. Oversight for the agency, first set up in 2007 by then-natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale, had been moved in March from the natural resources department to the fisheries and aquaculture department. However, […] Read more
Quebec co-ops’ urea plant back on hold
Reading Time: < 1 minute Development of a major new nitrogen fertilizer plant in Quebec has returned to the back burner where it lived for much of the past year. The Canadian arm of the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative (IFFCO) and Quebec agrifood co-operative giant La Coop federee announced Monday they will again halt development work on their planned plant […] Read more
Alberta’s farm worker bill passes, with tweaks
Reading Time: 3 minutes A more specific version of the Alberta government’s bill to extend workers’ comp and OHS regulations to paid farm workers has cleared the legislature. Bill 6, the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act, passed third reading 44-29 Thursday. It received royal assent Friday, after the legislature adjourned until Feburary. But the bill, as […] Read more
Province backs new Hamilton bulk flour mill
Reading Time: 2 minutes With public funds in hand, Winnipeg agrifood firm Parrish and Heimbecker is set to build Ontario’s first new flour mill in three-quarters of a century, near the company’s grain terminal in Hamilton. The provincial government on Monday pledged a $5 million investment from the Food and Beverage Growth Fund arm of its $2.5 billion Jobs […] Read more
Yara to buy Agrium fertilizer upgrading plant
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canadian fertilizer firm Agrium has a buyer lined up for a U.S. nitrogen upgrading site it’s been looking to sell since April. Oslo-based fertilizer giant Yara said Thursday it’s made a deal to buy Agrium’s West Sacramento Nitrogen Operations plant for US$27 million (C$36 million) and use the facility instead as an import terminal for […] Read more
Maple Leaf to upgrade stunning process, ‘accelerate’ on sow housing
Reading Time: 3 minutes Pledging to upgrade its hog and poultry stunning processes, speed up its timeline on sow housing and step up its game on facility audits, livestock pain management and reduced antibiotic use, Maple Leaf Foods said Friday it’s now set to carve an animal care agenda into formal company policy. The major Canadian meat processor on […] Read more
Sask. widens wolf harvest pilot area
Reading Time: 2 minutes Last winter’s pilot project to push wolves back from ranches and farms in northeastern Saskatchewan will expand west this winter. Saskatchewan’s environment ministry on Wednesday announced a wolf hunt will run from Dec. 15 this year until March 31, 2016 in wildlife management zones (WMZs) 49 and 53. The wolf hunt pilot program ran from […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
