Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal opposition New Democrats have cherry-picked a Liberal election promise to fruit and vegetable growers seeking insurance against U.S. and Canadian buyers who dodge their bills. Tracey Ramsey, the NDP’s international trade critic and MP for the southwestern Ontario riding of Essex, on Tuesday tabled a motion in the Commons for Canada to set […] Read more
Liberals pressed on PACA pledge for produce growers
Farmers return to vegetable patch as currency slumps
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian farmers are cashing in on the highest vegetable prices in years, helped by the country’s weak currency and soaring costs of U.S. imports that have made them unexpected winners in a bearish commodity world. Soft wheat and canola prices may diminish Canadian farm incomes by nine per cent this year. But it […] Read more
Australia to hike tax on ‘backpacker’ workers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sydney | Reuters — Australia is set to increase taxes on foreign travellers who work in the country, raising concerns from farmers that their supply of “backpacker labour” at harvest times may dry up and undermine Australia’s ambitions of being Asia’s delicatessen. Australian fruit exports are set to hit a record A$2.27 billion (C$2.19 billion) […] Read more
The hustle and bustle of the Ontario Food Terminal
Handling over a million tons of produce a year, the Ontario Food Terminal is like agriculture’s Port of Vancouver in the east, and just as complex
Reading Time: 7 minutes Tucked between a Shoppers Drug Mart and an overgrown hedge, the entrance to the Ontario Food Terminal is nearly impossible to find after you turn off the bustling Queensway in southwest Toronto — unless you know where you’re going. Yet every day, about 2,500 people in cars, half-tons, cube vans and tractor-trailers do know exactly […] 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
Louis Dreyfus ring-fences some units, considers options
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — Louis Dreyfus Commodities is ring-fencing its crop inputs, metals, juice and dairy units and is considering options ranging from joint ventures to the sale of certain assets, a senior company source said. In December, Reuters reported the trade house had been seeking buyers for its juice and fertilizer units for some […] Read more
Salford buys tillage equipment maker AerWay
Reading Time: 2 minutes Southwestern Ontario vertical tillage and pasture equipment maker AerWay has become part of another well-known Ontario ag equipment manufacturer. Salford Group announced in December it has bought the AerWay advanced aeration products line from the Canadian trailer systems arm of German truck, bus and trailer axle and suspension manufacturer SAF-Holland. AerWay, which operates a manufacturing […] Read more
Puree processor gets GF2 funds for expansion
Reading Time: 2 minutes A Portage la Prairie food processor that converts culled vegetables into nutritional purees has received $582,000 from the federal-provincial Growing Value program to increase its capacity. Canadian Prairie Garden Puree Products has acquired new equipment and modified its existing operation in order to cook more types of fruits, vegetables and pulse crops like chickpeas, navy […] Read more
McCain french fry plant gets public funds for upgrades
Reading Time: 2 minutes CORRECTED, Jan. 13, 2016: The Manitoba and federal governments are dipping into an agribusiness support fund to cover half the cost of equipment upgrades for McCain Foods’ french fry plant in the province’s southwest. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and provincial Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn on Wednesday announced $380,000 from the Growing Value program for […] Read more
Louis Dreyfus said seeking buyers for juice, fertilizer units
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Louis Dreyfus Commodities is seeking buyers for its orange juice and fertilizer units as the global merchant focuses on higher-margin activities, sources said, the latest firm to take steps to weather weak commodity markets. The company had been actively marketing the orange juice and fertilizer businesses for some months, having appointed banks to […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
