General, Agriculture News & Resources

Walmart to boost fresh food handle in Canada

By Country Guide Staff February 11, 2015

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian arm of U.S. retail giant Walmart has earmarked about $340 million to build 29 new retail and grocery supercentres and to expand its distribution networks for fresh food and online shopping. The company on Wednesday announced it will spend about $230 million in fiscal 2015 (ending Jan. 31, 2016) on supercentre projects, including […] Read more

General, Machinery, Markets

BMR hardware chain joins Coop federee

By Country Guide Staff February 6, 2015

Reading Time: 2 minutes Agrifood processor and ag retailer La Coop federee has moved from minority stakeholder to full owner of home reno and hardware retail chain Groupe BMR. Coop federee, Quebec’s biggest agrifood company, announced Thursday it exercised an option in its 2013 purchase of a minority position in BMR, buying the retailer’s remaining shares and making it […] Read more

General, Markets, Reuters

CME Group to close most open-outcry futures trading pits

By Tom Polansek February 4, 2015

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — CME Group will shutter most of its open-outcry futures pits by July 2, the world’s largest futures market operator said Wednesday, bringing down the curtain on a once-raucous tradition that has been in decline since the rise of computerized trading. The decision ousts traders of products ranging from grain and livestock […] Read more

General, Reuters

Obama proposes creation of stand-alone U.S. food safety agency

By Reuters February 2, 2015

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed bringing together the country’s food safety operations into one agency to better monitor food quality in a move that would reshape the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The proposal was put forward as part of the President’s 2016 budget plan. The new agency would combine the food […] Read more

General, Reuters

France says EU orders repayment of $1.5B in ag subsidies

By Reuters January 27, 2015

Reading Time: < 1 minute Paris | Reuters — The European Commission has asked France to repay 1.1 billion euros (C$1.54 billion) of farm subsidies dating back to 2008-2012, the French agriculture ministry said Tuesday. The Commission’s claim, which mainly relates to inaccurate declarations of farm area, initially amounted to around 3.5 billion euros before being negotiated down by France, […] Read more

General, Machinery, Markets

Regulatory requirements seen keeping diesel prices high

By Dave Sims January 26, 2015

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Diesel prices in North America aren’t likely to come down to the levels of gasoline anytime soon, according to an analyst. “It’s probably going to trade at a premium to gasoline for some time,” said Phil Flynn, energy market analyst for Price Futures Group in Chicago. One of the main challenges facing […] Read more

Premier Stephen Harper and Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger examine flooded areas around Brandon in July 2014. (PMO photo by Jill Thompson)

General, Weather

Manitoba seeks more climate-responsive risk management

By Country Guide Staff January 21, 2015

Reading Time: < 1 minute A Manitoba provincial task force has been set up to seek ways in which farm risk management programs could be “more comprehensive and sustainable” in handling “climate-related challenges” such as floods. “Manitoba’s farmers have told us existing agricultural programs can’t adequately address these climate-related challenges, especially as they become more common,” Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn […] Read more

General, Reuters, Weather

Australia weather bureau says models show low chance of El Nino

By Reuters January 20, 2015

Reading Time: < 1 minute Sydney | Reuters –– Weather models show a low chance of an El Nino, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said Tuesday, after indicators of the climate event eased in recent weeks. El Nino — a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific — can prompt drought in Southeast Asia and Australia and heavy rains […] Read more

General

Ontario farm registration streamlined

By Country Guide Staff January 15, 2015

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ontario farmers filling out their farm business registration (FBR) forms in the next few weeks can look forward to five years of not doing so. Agricorp, the province’s farm programming delivery agency, noted in a statement that while all farmers in Ontario are required to complete the FBR form in 2015, the process has been […] Read more

Canadians had eagerly anticipated Target’s arrival in Canada, built up through events such as this one-day pop-up store in Toronto, benefiting the United Way, in February 2012. (CNW Group/Target photo)

General, Markets, Reuters

In surprise move, Target to pull out of Canada

By Solarina Ho January 15, 2015

Reading Time: 3 minutes Toronto | Reuters — Target Corp. will abandon its ill-fated expansion into Canada less than two years after launch, the U.S. discount retailer said on Thursday, in a surprise retreat that will put more than 17,000 employees out of work and cost it billions. Shares of Target, which was granted creditor protection for its money-losing […] Read more

Daily Network News

New strategies needed for Canadian agriculture to stand out in global trade

Feed Grains Weekly: Cash prices for wheat, barley largely flat

The Canadian GMO mustard wars: Dijon vs canola