Reading Time: 3 minutes Sydney/Paris | Reuters — Out in Australia’s grain fields, farmers have started harvesting one of their biggest-ever barley crops, after drought-relieving rains convinced many to plant to the edges of their paddocks. Yet the tractors are working under the cloud of a new tariff imposed by China — seen widely as retaliation for Australia’s push […] Read more
Barley trade routes redrawn as China tariff hits Australian farmers
China's barley purchases from Canada more than double last year's
Canadian pot producer Aphria to buy U.S. craft brewer
SweetWater's '420' beer would come to Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian cannabis company Aphria Inc. said on Wednesday it plans to buy craft brewer SweetWater Brewing for US$300 million as it looks to expand into the U.S. while becoming the first major pot producer to enter the alcoholic beverages market. The deal gives Leamington, Ont.-based Aphria a U.S. distribution point at a time […] Read more
U.S. lifts federal protections for gray wolf
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The Trump administration in the U.S. said Thursday said it will lift Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf, arguing the species had been brought back successfully from the brink of extinction. The move gives states in the continuous United States the authority to manage their local wolf populations, including by allowing […] Read more
Cannabis-infused drinks fizzle on production, distribution challenges
'Actually executing the idea is much more difficult'
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Investors pinning hopes on cannabis-infused drinks to propel growth of the legal marijuana industry may have to wait a bit longer, as companies struggle to produce and distribute the highly-sought beverages in a profitable way. Nearly 11 months after regulators allowed their sales, very few brands have been able to reach shelves. Canada […] Read more
Feds seek feedback on farm worker living conditions
Consultations focused on 'primary agriculture' labour stream of TFWs
Reading Time: 3 minutes Improving and standardizing living conditions for temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in Canada — specifically, those on Canadian farms — is the subject of a new round of federal consultations. Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough and Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Tuesday announced consultations are now underway until Dec. 22 with “provinces and territories, employers, workers, worker […] Read more
Record-high Canadian canola supplies in commercial pipeline
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Visible canola supplies in the Canadian commercial pipeline are sitting at historically high levels, according to Canadian Grain Commission data. A total of 1.75 million tonnes of canola were sitting in commercial hands across Canada during the week ended Oct. 18 — only slightly off the record of 1.786 million tonnes set only […] Read more
Grain, oilseed exports running ahead of average
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canadian grain and oilseed exports have left the country at a rapid pace during the first 10 weeks of the 2020-21 crop year, with canola, wheat,and barley movement-to-date all up substantially on the year. Total exports of Canada’s major grains and oilseeds as of Sunday came in at 9.57 million tonnes, according to […] Read more
China denies ‘coercive’ diplomacy with Canada
Envoy again urges release of Huawei executive
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — China on Thursday denied it had taken two Canadian men hostage, and repeated a call for the release of a Huawei Technologies executive held in Canada who faces extradition to the United States amid a long-running diplomatic dispute. Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, a Chinese citizen, was arrested in Vancouver […] Read more
Farmer and activist Percy Schmeiser, 89
Thorn in Monsanto's side also the subject of a new major film
Reading Time: 3 minutes Funeral services are to be held and livestreamed Saturday for Prairie farmer, businessman and activist Percy Schmeiser, best known for his ultimately unsuccessful court battles with the company behind Roundup Ready canola. Schmeiser, who farmed at Bruno, Sask., about 90 km east of Saskatoon, died Tuesday at age 89. According to Saskatchewan media, he had […] Read more
Dairy cattle traceability system switched on
Lactanet's DairyTrace program now operational
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lactanet Canada’s centralized national system for management of dairy cattle traceability data has formally been plugged in. Guelph-based dairy herd management service provider Lactanet on Monday launched DairyTrace, which it says will operate alongside the traceability module of Dairy Farmers of Canada’s proAction initiative in providing “state-of-the-art traceback capabilities in the event of an emergency […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
