Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canada’s largest dairy producer, Saputo, still digesting a major purchase in Australia, is examining other possible acquisitions there and in the U.S., Canada and Latin America, CEO Lino Saputo Jr. said Thursday. In the U.S., potential acquisitions could cost less than $100 million to as much as $4 billion, Saputo said in a […] Read more
Saputo eyes mergers, acquisitions in U.S., Canada, Australia
Dairytown’s farmers approve merger into Agropur
Reading Time: 2 minutes New Brunswick butter co-operative Dairytown Products is expected to become part of major Quebec dairy co-op Agropur by month’s end, now that Dairytown’s farmers have approved the deal. The two co-ops announced Wednesday that Dairytown’s “beneficiaries,” the province’s 206 active dairy producers, voted 99 per cent in favour of the merger Tuesday. Member turnout topped […] Read more
U.S. dairy farmers threaten to oppose Trans-Pacific trade deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. dairy farmers and milk processors on Wednesday threatened to oppose a Pacific trade deal if Japan and Canada do not agree to accept substantially more dairy imports. In a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative and Department of Agriculture, members of the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy […] Read more
Que. ag minister, ag critics hold seats in PQ loss
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Parti Quebecois’ agriculture minister and his critics in Quebec’s assembly have held their seats in the wake of an election that’s upended the province’s government. Francois Gendron, who’d served as Premier Pauline Marois’ deputy premier and the province’s agriculture, food and fisheries minister since September 2012, held his Abitibi-Ouest riding in Monday night’s election […] Read more
N.B. farmer-owned Dairytown to merge into Agropur
Reading Time: 2 minutes A New Brunswick butter and powdered milk processor owned by the province’s dairy producers is set to become Agropur’s latest dairy processing play in Atlantic Canada. Agropur, the major Quebec dairy co-operative whose products include the Natrel, Quebon, Allegro, Olympic and Island Farms brands, announced an agreement in principle Thursday for a merger with Sussex, […] Read more
Saputo to shut two Alta. powdered milk plants
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two plants producing powdered and condensed milk in Alberta are set to close by the end of next year as Montreal dairy giant Saputo folds their operations into other facilities. Saputo announced Wednesday it will close its plants at Wetaskiwin, about 60 km south of Edmonton, and at Glenwood, about 80 km southwest of Lethbridge. […] Read more
Two steps forward
Alberta’s Rhonda and and Brian Headon knew the farm needed diversification. Now, each heads their own very different farm enterprise
Reading Time: 9 minutes It’s the classic Western Canadian love story. Boy and girl meet at a hockey game. Years later, they meet again at Alberta’s Ukrainian Pysanka Festival in Vegreville. They fall in love, they marry, they move back to his family’s farm, and they start a family. Also, like so many farming couples, Brian Headon and Rhonda […] Read more
Ontario court dismisses raw-milk appeal
Reading Time: 4 minutes An Ontario dairyman’s long-fought legal scrap to be able to distribute unpasteurized (“raw”) milk has hit another wall — this time a dismissal by Ontario’s Court of Appeal. The decision, released Tuesday, upholds a September 2011 decision from the provincial Court of Justice against raw-milk advocate Michael Schmidt. [Related story] The 2011 ruling overturned previous […] Read more
Cows learn dairying faster when housed together: study
Reading Time: 2 minutes Housing new dairy cows in pairs rather than individual pens could improve their ability to learn new feeding and milking technologies, a new B.C. study suggests. The study by Rebecca Meagher, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, shows dairy calves become better at learning by way of a “buddy system” — and […] Read more
Ben + Jerry’s to go full non-GMO by mid-year
Reading Time: < 1 minute Premium ice cream maker Ben + Jerry’s plans to soon pull any genetically modified (GMO) ingredients from its supply lines in both Canada and the U.S. The Vermont-based company, which makes and sells ice cream in over two dozen countries through major retailers and its chain of ice cream shops, and last year pledged to […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
