A soybean plantation in Brazil. (MailsonPignata/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazil may raise farm subsidies despite belt-tightening

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brasilia | Reuters — Brazil could double spending on subsidized farm insurance in 2020 and may expand subsidized loans, the country’s agriculture policy secretary said on Thursday, even though the new government’s economic team has pledged to cut spending. The negotiations on next year’s farm subsidies highlight the powerful agribusiness lobby’s struggle to preserve benefits […] Read more

File photo of wheat being loaded onto a bulk vessel at port in Russia. (YGrek/iStock/Getty Images)

Russian agricultural firms raided over suspected tax evasion

Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Meat producer Cherkizovo and farming conglomerate Rusagro were among agricultural firms across Russia targeted in a sweeping investigation into suspected tax evasion on Wednesday. The Tax Service said so far five potential breaches had been uncovered in inspections carried out with the Federal Security Service (FSB) at agricultural holdings across 13 […] Read more


A 2013 Ford F-150. (Ford Media video screengrab via YouTube)

Ford recalls 1.48 million pickups over transmissions

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said on Wednesday it was recalling about 1.48 million F-150 pickup trucks in North America due to a potential transmission downshift issue that could increase the risk of a crash. Ford said select 2011-2013 model year trucks with six-speed automatic transmission could experience an unintended downshift into first […] Read more



File photo of an oil pumpjack near Drumheller, Alta. (LaughingMango/E+/Getty Images)

Bankrupt oil firms must clean up inactive wells, Supreme Court rules

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that bankrupt oil companies must clean up inactive wells, overturning lower court decisions that prioritized paying creditors and potentially raising the risks of investment in the industry. The 5-2 ruling means that the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), which had appealed the earlier court decisions, can […] Read more

(Tanaonte/iStock/Getty Images)

EU adopts post-Brexit import quotas for farm produce

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Union on Monday adopted quotas for farming produce it will accept from third countries after Britain leaves the bloc and acknowledged this could happen before it has concluded talks with them on the subject. The EU has in place a series of tariff rate quotas, allowing agricultural producers such […] Read more


USDA’s main home page on Jan. 11, 2019. (GFM Staff photo)

USDA to reopen all farm agency offices

Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday it will reopen all Farm Service Agency offices on Thursday to offer services to farmers and ranchers during the partial government shutdown. Some Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices had been providing limited services since Jan. 17, but the move means all of the agency’s […] Read more

(Food-guide.canada.ca)

Eat plant-based foods more often, new Food Guide says

Reading Time: 2 minutes Health Canada unveiled a new Canada Food Guide today that ends the era of the ‘four food groups,’ no longer refers to serving sizes nor specific amounts of food to eat daily, and replaces the former iconic rainbow with a dinner plate comprised mostly of plant-based foods. This new guide is all about proportion rather […] Read more


A file photo of Brazil’s Mata Atlantica (Atlantic rainforest). (FG Trade/E+/Getty Images)

Brazil ag minister eyes indigenous land for commercial farming

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brasilia | Reuters — Brazil should open indigenous land to commercial farming, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said on Friday, while also seeking to soften many of President Jair Bolsonaro’s controversial stances on native people and the environment. Farmers form a key base of support for right-wing firebrand Bolsonaro who since taking office Jan. 1 […] Read more

(Video screengrab from BJordan.liberal.ca)

Rural development strategy sought in federal shuffle

Reading Time: 2 minutes Rural economic development has been given a promotion at the federal level in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest cabinet shuffle. In the shuffle, following the departure of Treasury Board president Scott Brison from cabinet, Trudeau on Monday called up Bernadette Jordan, MP for the southern Nova Scotia riding of South Shore-St.Margaret’s, to head a newly […] Read more