(Staff photo)

Taking aim at food waste, companies plan simplified expiration labels

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Some of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, including Kellogg and Wal-Mart, said on Wednesday they will simplify food expiration labels in an effort to eliminate confusion that contributes to food waste. Standardized labeling will use a single expiration date on perishable items and a single quality indicator […] Read more

(Video screengrab from CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

U.S. wants NAFTA five-year sunset provision

Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday that the United States was seeking to add a five-year sunset provision to the North American Free Trade Agreement to provide a regular, “systematic re-examination” of the trade pact. Ross told a forum hosted by Politico that both he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert […] Read more


(NHC.noaa.gov)

Irma whips orange trees, shuts meat plants

Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Hurricane Irma stripped oranges from trees and prompted Tyson Foods to shut meat plants in Florida and Georgia on Monday to keep workers safe. Tyson, the biggest U.S. meat company, hopes to resume normal operations soon at chicken plants it shuttered in Cumming, Dawson and Vienna, Ga., and at a beef […] Read more

(NHC.noaa.gov)

From sugar mills to hog farms, U.S. agriculture braces for Irma

Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago/New York | Reuters — Hurricane Irma sent farmers and food companies scrambling to protect processing facilities, farm fields and animal herds in the south and southeastern parts of the U.S. on Wednesday. Florida sugar and citrus processors rushed to secure rail cars and equipment that could be crushed, blocked or turned into flying projectiles. […] Read more


(CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

NAFTA ministers claim progress in talks

Reading Time: 3 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Trade Ministers from Canada, Mexico and the United States on Tuesday said they made progress in weekend talks to update the NAFTA trade pact, consolidating language for some proposals and reaffirming their commitment to complete negotiations toward the end of 2017. A trilateral statement issued by U.S. Trade Representative Robert […] Read more

(Video screengrab from CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Sharp differences over labour surface at NAFTA trade talks

Reading Time: 3 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Tensions over sharp differences in pay between Mexican workers and their Canadian and U.S. counterparts surfaced on Sunday as negotiators discussed labour market rules in talks to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada’s biggest private-sector union said NAFTA should be scrapped if Mexico cannot agree to better labour […] Read more


Finance Minister Bill Morneau, shown here at a Hunter River, P.E.I. farm in July, proposes a major overhaul to Canada’s tax code affecting private corporations. (Fin.gc.ca)

Farm groups line up against feds’ tax proposal

Reading Time: 3 minutes National, regional and sector farm groups are forming up with several major business associations on the offensive against a proposal to reform how incorporated businesses are taxed in Canada. The federal finance department tabled a series of proposals July 18, opening them for public comment until Oct. 2 for a proposed effective date of Jan. […] Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks Aug. 23, 2017 at a Montreal charity event. (PM.gc.ca)

NAFTA talks resume in Mexico City

Reading Time: 3 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Trade negotiators from Canada and the U.S. gathered under rainy skies in Mexico City on Friday to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the mood darkened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s persistent threats to pull out. Teams from the three countries were due to kick off a second […] Read more


Gerry Ritz won’t be coming back to the House of Commons in September. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Shannon VanRaes)

Ex-agriculture minister Gerry Ritz quits Commons

Reading Time: 2 minutes Gerry Ritz, the federal minister for agriculture and agri-food for nine years in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, is done with federal politics. The MP for the western Saskatchewan riding of Battlefords-Lloydminster since 1997, Ritz announced via Twitter Thursday morning that he “will not be returning to my seat in the House of Commons this fall.” […] Read more

Luc Berthold, shown here in April 2011 during his stint as mayor of Thetford Mines, Que., is the new lead Opposition critic for agriculture and agri-food. (Ville.ThetfordMines.qc.ca)

Federal Tories look east for ag critic

Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal Conservatives have tapped one of their rookie Quebec MPs as the new agriculture critic for Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Andrew Scheer, elected in May as the Tories’ new leader, on Wednesday announced his first shadow cabinet with Luc Berthold, the MP for Megantic-L’Erable, as agriculture and agri-food critic and John Barlow, MP for […] Read more