Production of Ford’s F-150 Lightning pickup at Dearborn, Mich. (Media.ford.com)

Electric truck battle heats up between Ford, GM

Ford to double output at Michigan

Reading Time: 2 minutes Detroit | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will nearly double annual production capacity for its red-hot F-150 Lightning electric pickup to 150,000 vehicles as the model has already attracted nearly 200,000 reservations ahead of its arrival this spring at U.S. dealers. Ford’s announcement comes a day ahead of rival General Motors’ public […] Read more



Bob Speller, shown here in a 2011 campaign video, died Dec. 16, 2021. (Video screengrab via YouTube)

Former federal agriculture minister Bob Speller, 65

Ontario MP served in Paul Martin's cabinet

Reading Time: 2 minutes A memorial will be held next week for Bob Speller, the Ontario businessman who served as Canada’s agriculture minister in the thick of the country’s BSE crisis. Speller, the MP for the southwestern Ontario riding of what’s now Haldimand-Norfolk from 1988 to 2004, died Thursday at age 65. A cause of death wasn’t given in […] Read more

A refrigerator is stuck in a tree at Dawson Springs, Kentucky, about 140 km west of Bowling Green, on Dec. 13, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Jon Cherry)

U.S. tornadoes destroy chickens, tractors, silos

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A Deere dealership and a Pilgrim’s Pride chicken hatchery were destroyed when deadly tornadoes swept through Kentucky on Friday, while silos holding millions of bushels of corn suffered damage, the companies and the state’s agriculture commissioner said on Monday. At least 64 people, including six children, lost their lives in Kentucky […] Read more


(Xinzheng/Getty Images)

New China import rules bring headaches for food, beverage makers

Cooking oil, milled grains among foods moved to higher-risk categories

Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing | Reuters — Makers of Irish whiskey, Belgian chocolate and European coffee brands are scrambling to comply with new Chinese food and beverage regulations, with many fearful their goods will be unable to enter the giant market as a Jan. 1 deadline looms. China’s customs authority published new food safety rules in April stipulating […] Read more

(RoyalFair.org video screengrab via YouTube)

AgriCommunication plan to seek farmer-consumer dialogue

Ag exhibitions among expected beneficiaries

Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal government has put up new funding toward improving consumers’ awareness of the “strengths” of Canada’s ag sector — and to improve farmer awareness of what those consumers want and expect. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Thursday announced an $8 million, three-year funding envelope for the first of two streams of what’s now called […] Read more


File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Audit finds Canada failing migrant farmworkers on COVID-19, housing inspections

Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters — As the COVID-19 pandemic raged, federal government inspectors frequently deemed the employers of migrant workers compliant with health and safety rules despite a lack of evidence, according to an Auditor General report released Thursday. While Canadian provinces and territories set housing standards, the federal government is responsible for ensuring tens of […] Read more

Cropland in the Overberg region of South Africa’s Western Cape province. (Nini/E+/Getty Images)

South African plan to allow land expropriation fails to pass

Constitutional amendment defeated by ruling ANC's opponents on both sides

Reading Time: 2 minutes Johannesburg | Reuters –– A proposal to change South Africa’s constitution to explicitly allow expropriation of land with no compensation failed to win the two-thirds of parliamentary votes that it needed on Tuesday. Lawmakers debated whether to change Section 25 of the constitution to enable authorities to seize land to address racial land inequalities left […] Read more


(Viktorcvetkovic/E+/Getty Images)

Spy agency sees ransomware attacks soaring

Aggressive hacking expected to increase

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — Global ransomware attacks increased by 151 per cent in the first half of 2021 compared with 2020 and hackers are set to become increasingly aggressive, Canada’s signals intelligence agency said on Monday. The Communications Security Establishment (CSE), citing attacks on North American health facilities and a U.S. pipeline, said the scale […] Read more

A restoration company vehicle sits in a flooded field at Abbotsford, B.C. on Nov. 30, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

British Columbia braces for more heavy rain

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — British Columbia is facing more heavy rains as the province tries to recover from massive floods and mudslides, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth told reporters on Tuesday. Farnworth said crews were working to shore up dikes and dams, adding some roads would be closed protectively. Flooding over Nov. 14-16 in Canada’s […] Read more