Australian countryside near Bendigo, northwest of Melbourne. (CIA.gov)

Australia backs farmers on foreign ownership gripes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Canberra | Reuters –– The Australian government has sided with farmers who say official data vastly underestimates foreign ownership of the nation’s farmland, as it moves to clamp down on overseas purchases of agricultural land. Foreign ownership is a key concern for many farmers, a crucial part of the conservative government’s support base, who worry […] Read more

Access to Brazil’s Itajai port to open as truck protest ends

Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo | Reuters — Protesters have agreed to open access to Brazil’s main poultry exporting port of Itajai in Santa Catarina state, the port said on Wednesday, ending a lingering flashpoint after a two-week truck drivers’ protest. A union of autonomous truck drivers agreed to the port’s proposal to raise payments for transporters inside […] Read more


(UoGuelph.ca/Alfred)

Francophone ag education in E. Ont. under new management

Reading Time: 2 minutes An established francophone college has been named to co-ordinate delivery of French-language agricultural education programs in eastern Ontario. The province on Thursday announced Ottawa-based Collège La Cité will take on that role — and take the lead in delivering several such programs this fall at Campus d’Alfred (UGCA), which, for now, is a francophone campus […] Read more




Brazil truckers continue some roadblocks after crackdown

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Striking truck drivers resumed some roadblocks in Brazil on Monday, disrupting grain and meat shipments to southern ports even as the government cracked down on protesters and promised to give new benefits to the transport sector. By mid-afternoon there were 23 road blockages in three southern states, down from 99 […] Read more


Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott, shown here at the U.N. in September, is backing plans for a nationwide country-of-origin labelling program. (PM.gov.au via Flickr)

Australia plans country-of-origin labelling after hep A outbreak

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sydney | Reuters — Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott backed plans on Thursday to introduce country-of-origin labelling in the wake of a hepatitis A outbreak, potentially risking contravention of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. With 18 confirmed cases of hepatitis A linked to consumption of berries sold by Patties Foods Ltd., Abbott said he had […] Read more

(PortOfLosAngeles.org)

Contract negotiators for U.S. West Coast ports reach tentative deal

Reading Time: 4 minutes Los Angeles | Reuters — A group of shipping companies and a powerful dockworkers union clinched a tentative labour deal on Friday after nine months of negotiations, settling a dispute that disrupted the flow of cargo through 29 U.S. West Coast ports and snarled trans-Pacific maritime trade with Asia. The settlement, confirmed in a joint […] Read more


Pacific trade pact negotiators to meet in March

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters –– Chief negotiators for a Pacific trade deal will meet in Hawaii for talks in the second week of March, the U.S. trade office said Friday, a move which could delay a final agreement on the pact. Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb said on Feb. 5 he hoped to agree on the […] Read more

(PortOfLosAngeles.org)

U.S. farmers hit hard by labour strife at West Coast ports

Reading Time: 3 minutes Los Angeles | Reuters –– Protracted labour strife and shipping disruptions at U.S. West Coast ports have hit farmers especially hard, posing a major barrier to perishable goods headed to overseas markets and resulting in losses estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars a week. Foreign Pacific Rim customers facing chronic delays in shipments of […] Read more