Reading Time: 2 minutes The Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers marketing board believes it has found a compromise to an imposed regulation that would have gutted grower contract protection. Why it matters: Farmers had contract security of two years previously, but new regulations would have taken that down to none — and processors could have dropped growers whenever they wished. […] Read more

Ontario processing vegetable contract compromise reached

Ontario’s processing vegetable growers in new regulatory reality
Reading Time: 3 minutes The only way is forward. That’s what Ontario’s processing vegetable growers heard at their annual meeting from the chair of the group that regulates farm marketing in the province. That doesn’t mean some farmers didn’t still question the province’s move to fire the board of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers (OPVG) and its staff in […] Read more

Ocean Spray to buy Quebec cranberry processor
Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec cranberry processor Atoka Cranberries is set to become an arm of the U.S.-based cranberry grower co-op Ocean Spray. Massachussetts-based Ocean Spray on Friday announced it would buy the Atoka processing plant at Manseau, Que., about 70 km east of Trois-Rivieres, along with the Atoka brand from berry producer Canneberges Bieler. Financial terms of the […] Read more
At least two killed in potato farmer protests in Peru
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lima | Reuters — At least two people have been killed in clashes at protests by potato farmers across the Peruvian Andes, police said on Thursday, as demonstrators demanded the government make good on promises to buy excess potatoes after a sharp price drop. Thousands of farmers took part in the protests on Wednesday and […] Read more

Campbell to shut Toronto soup, broth plant
Reading Time: 2 minutes Campbell Soup Co. will call a halt to all Canadian soup and broth production by mid-2019 when it closes the doors on its Toronto manufacturing plant. The Camden, N.J. company’s Canadian arm announced Wednesday it will close the plant in phases over a period of up to 18 months and move its production to three […] Read more

Australia takes Canada to WTO over wine rules
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva | Reuters — Australia has complained at the World Trade Organization about Canada’s rules on wine sales, expanding a similar U.S. complaint against one province. In October, Washington accused British Columbia of providing an unfair advantage to local vineyards by giving their wine an exclusive retail channel in grocery store shelves and cutting out […] Read more

Farm feedback
On this savvy farm, feedback is mined for real value, producing a happier, more efficient workforce
Reading Time: 9 minutes On the farm, we’ve heard the jokes about feedback being a load of barley that gets rejected at the elevator, or maybe it’s how a cow chews her cud. In bizspeak, though, feedback gets taken a lot more seriously than that. As a human resources strategy, feedback is gaining global attention because of the power […] Read more

Maple Leaf buys further into ‘meat’ market
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of Canada’s biggest packaged meat companies is further expanding its space on the non-animal protein shelf with a deal for U.S. processor Field Roast Grain Meat. Maple Leaf Foods announced Nov. 30 it will pay US$120 million (C$153.9 million) for the Seattle-based company, which makes and markets premium grain-based “meat” and vegan cheese products. […] Read more

A different school
For Vance Lester and Sue Echlin, getting a non-agricultural education proved a big help when they returned to the farm
Reading Time: 6 minutes Graduate degrees in ecology and international relations don’t seem the kind of education that would be likely to help on a Canadian farm. But that’s where we might be wrong. For Sue Echlin and Vance Lester, that kind of schooling has been instrumental in their launching a fruit-growing and winery business, and in keeping it […] Read more

Few stand for Ontario vegetable board elections
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s 450-odd processing vegetable growers have put up just three people to fill four open spots on the board of their marketing organization. The Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers (OPVG) on Friday announced the results from an election meeting for two District 1 directors, held Thursday evening in Chatham. Tomato and bean grower David Epp of […] Read more