(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

NAFTA negotiators see gains for Canada if pact reopened

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canada, fearful of talk by the U.S. presidential candidates to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement, could use the opportunity to push for a better deal on worker mobility, dispute resolutions and other issues, Canadian negotiators of the original pact said. Republican Donald Trump calls NAFTA the worst trade deal signed by […] Read more


(Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

New Zealand dairy industry worries over Canada pricing plan

Reading Time: 2 minutes Wellington/Winnipeg | Reuters — New Zealand is closely watching changes in how Canada prices dairy products, New Zealand’s trade ministry said on Friday, as industry groups in several countries complain of unfair Canadian competition. Canada’s dairy farmers and processors, which include Saputo and Parmalat Canada, struck a pricing agreement in July that industry groups in […] Read more

Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), led by the country’s economy minister Sigmar Gabriel, shown here in March, have voted at their congress to approve a Canada-E.U. trade pact. (Susanne Eriksson photo, BMWI.de)

Germany’s Gabriel gets green light to support CETA

Reading Time: 2 minutes Wolfsburg, Germany | Reuters — Germany appeared set on Monday to back an ambitious trade accord between the European Union and Canada after the leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partner in the ruling coalition, overcame left-wing resistance to the deal within his party. The SPD decision paves the way for EU member states […] Read more


(Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

TPP study sees net ‘neutral’ effect on dairy sector

Reading Time: 4 minutes An economic impact study on Canada’s participation in a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal finds losses in Canada’s dairy sector would be “offset” by gains for dairy processors from cheaper dairy imports. The study, prepared for the federal government by its Office of the Chief Economist and released Friday, notes Canada has offered expanded access […] Read more

(Fonterra.com)

Australia competition watchdog to widen dairy investigation

Reading Time: < 1 minute Sydney | Reuters — Australia’s competition watchdog will launch a broad investigation into the country’s dairy industry, the country’s deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said on Thursday. The investigation comes after Australia’s largest dairy processor Murray Goulburn and New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group in April reduced their farm gate prices, or what they pay farmers […] Read more


Saputo’s Canadian dairy division includes brands such as Dairyland, Neilson, Nutrilait, Baxter and Armstrong. (Dave Bedard photo)

Saputo profit jumps, dividend raised

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Saputo Inc., one of Canada’s largest dairy producers, reported on Tuesday a 30 per cent jump in net earnings and boosted its quarterly dividend by 11 per cent. For Saputo’s fiscal 2017 first quarter, net income rose to $176.7 million, or 44 cents a share, from $136.4 million, or 34 cents, in the […] Read more

Maggie Van Camp in the family chicken barn.

Liberals boost tax on quota

Planning to sell quota that is held in a corporation? Get some strategic tax planning, quick

Reading Time: 3 minutes Not surprisingly, the national media focused on proposals like the new tax-free Canada Child Benefit program when the Justin Trudeau government presented its first federal budget back in March. Buried underneath all the feel-good news, however, were some potentially painful changes to Eligible Capital Property (ECP) tax rules for incorporated businesses. Common examples of ECP […] Read more


Purdue University researcher Bruce Applegate says the system could be tested to see if it works without pasteurization.  (Purdue Agriculture Communication photo/Tom Campbell)

Cool-temperature process extends milk shelf life

Rapid heating and cooling by 10 C

Reading Time: < 1 minute Purdue University researchers say they have developed a milk preservation system using a lower temperature than pasteurization, but providing a longer shelf life. The researchers found that increasing the temperature of milk by 10 C for less than a second and then cooling it rapidly eliminates more than 99 per cent of the bacteria left […] Read more

EU livestock farmers get compensation

Dairy farmers receive funds to offset price slump after scrapping of quotas

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels/Paris – Reuters — The European Union will grant an additional 500 million euros (C$721 million) to EU farmers struggling with a long-running crisis linked to low prices, notably in the dairy sector where it aims to reverse a boom in milk output after the scrapping of production quotas. European milk farmers have been struggling with […] Read more