FREE to good home: FARM PROGRESS tickets

Reading Time: 2 minutes Editor’s Note: We’ve said it before and now we’ll say it again — “Well,that was quick.” The contest is now closed and the 82 winning entrants have been notified by email. Thanks to all of you who entered for taking part in this year’s contest and for visiting our websites. Haven’t got your tickets yet for Canada’s […] Read more

CFIA: What makes ‘local’ food local?

Reading Time: 2 minutes Federal food inspectors will now allow a much broader geographic definition in food marketers’ use of the word “local” while the label claim undergoes regulatory review. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday it will include that particular label claim, among others, in its broader review of federal food labelling regulations, guidelines and policies. Until […] Read more


AAFC employees served layoff notices, union says

Reading Time: 2 minutes Employees with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are the largest group on a list of federal civil servants slated for possible layoffs. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the Ottawa-based union for over 180,000 public-sector workers across the country, said 530 of its members were served notices Thursday that “they may lose their jobs.” Of […] Read more

Food prices rise but 2013 cereal crop looks strong: FAO

Reading Time: 2 minutes Global food prices rose in April for a third straight month as surging dairy costs kept upward pressure on the United Nations food agency’s index, but cereal output is expected to be strong this year. Food prices spiked during the summer of 2012 as the United States was hit by a severe drought and dry […] Read more


Average farmland values up 10 per cent in six months

Average farmland values up 10 per cent in six months

Reading Time: 4 minutes Average values of farmland in Farm Credit Canada’s cross-country review climbed 10 per cent during the second half of 2012, led by double-digit increases in Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario. The federal ag lender’s spring 2013 Farmland Values report, based on a system that monitors 245 benchmark properties across the country, logged its biggest average national […] Read more

Roundup Ready alfalfa not on deck for spring

Reading Time: 2 minutes Forage Genetics International (FGI), the developer of Genuity Roundup Ready alfalfa, won’t be launching its product in Canada for planting this spring. The Idaho-based forage seed developer’s decision, announced Monday, comes after months of “interest and speculation” about its commercialization plans for the Canadian market, after RR alfalfa returned to the U.S. market last year […] Read more


Critics turn up heat on genetically-modified alfalfa

Reading Time: 3 minutes Members of the federal official opposition have lined up with organizers of over two dozen rallies scheduled across the country Tuesday to call for a halt on any move to commercialize genetically modified (GM) alfalfa in Canada. Roundup Ready alfalfa, which has been grown only on test plots in Canada but was authorized for sale […] Read more

Tariffs end as Panama trade pact takes effect

Reading Time: 2 minutes Over three-quarters of Panama’s tariffs on Canadian agricultural products end effective immediately as Canada’s free trade agreement with Panama takes effect Monday (April 1). Canada’s international trade minister Ed Fast said Monday the bilateral deal brings an immediate end to Panama’s tariffs on 78 per cent of agricultural imports and 95 per cent of non-agricultural […] Read more


Growing Forward sequel now in effect

Reading Time: 2 minutes Bilateral talks between the federal government and each of the provinces and territories are “well underway” on the latest incarnation of their jointly-funded ag policy funding framework, officially launched Monday (April 1). The framework, dubbed Growing Forward 2 (GF2), pledges $3 billion from the federal, provincial and territorial governments as the foundation for government agricultural […] Read more

Pearce: Level of on-farm investment favours large Canadian farms

Reading Time: 3 minutes The large keep getting larger, and they keep investing more, as well. That’s the one-sentence summary from a new study from the Ivey School of Business Agri-food Innovation Centre. The study, Investment and Growth on Canadian Farms 2001-2009, has determined that Canadian farms saw total investments increase by more than $3 billion during the height […] Read more