Charles Baron and partners brought FBN to Canada in 2017, buying Saskatchewan-based Yorkton Distributors. (FBN video screengrab via YouTube)

FBN cuts yearly membership fee to zero

Ag e-commerce firm offers free accounts to farmers

Reading Time: 2 minutes E-marketplace Farmers Business Network (FBN) has disposed of the annual membership fee that allowed members access to its various buying groups and services. California-based FBN, which has operated in the U.S. since 2014 and expanded to Canada in 2017, announced Tuesday (Sept. 15) its farmer members may now have “access to a select range of […] Read more

Kraft’s Canadian grated cheese lines are among the businesses going to Lactalis for US$3.2 billion. (KraftWhatsCooking.ca)

Kraft Heinz to sell several cheese businesses to Lactalis

Canadian grated cheese lines among assets going for US$3.2 billion

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Kraft Heinz said on Tuesday that it will sell several of its cheese businesses to a U.S. affiliate of France’s Groupe Lactalis for US$3.2 billion. After weak sales results and several billion-dollar writedowns over the past two years, there has been market speculation about which categories Kraft Heinz will offload from […] Read more


(DWalker44/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. to remove tariffs on Canadian aluminum

Ottawa drops threat of retaliation on stock trailers, fencing, other aluminum goods

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington/Ottawa | Reuters — The Trump administration said on Tuesday it will remove 10 per cent U.S. tariffs on raw Canadian aluminum as long as imports of the metal stay below levels that are expected to “normalize” over the next four months. In response, Canada dropped a threat to impose billions of dollars of retaliatory […] Read more

(DWalker44/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada may unveil retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods Tuesday

Stock trailers could be among affected aluminum wares

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will announce on Tuesday that it is going ahead with a threat to slap retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods after Washington said it would impose punitive measures on Canadian aluminum imports, CTV said on Monday. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said last month that Ottawa would impose sanctions on $3.6 […] Read more



(File photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley finds support in lull between old, new crops

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Feed barley bids in Western Canada are seeing some modest strength in early September, as old-crop supplies run out and the new crop is not yet available. “Prices have definitely gone up this past week,” said Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities at Lethbridge. Expectations for a good 2020 crop had farmers making space […] Read more


CBOT November 2020 soybeans with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy extends rally as China keeps buying

Data awaited from USDA

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures climbed on Wednesday to their highest in more than two years and recorded a 12th straight daily advance on continued export demand from China, coupled with worries about crop-killing frost in parts of the Midwest, analysts said. Wheat futures ended narrowly mixed while corn futures drifted lower in […] Read more

Pandemic planning: Groundwork

Pandemic planning: Groundwork

What will Canada's food system look like as we roll toward 2021? And how will you be able to build on those changes to make the family farm more resilient, more sustainable, and a better business?

Reading Time: 8 minutes Resilience has two halves. The part that automatically comes to mind is the way a truly resilient business can take a punch without shutting down. It can survive a bout of bad weather, bad markets, a black swan. But there’s something else too. It isn’t just that a resilient farm keeps breathing. It’s that a […] Read more


Tom Button

Editor’s Note: Where are the big ideas?

Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the reasons why agriculture has mainly adapted so quickly to COVID-19 is that farmers are used to dealing with black swans. But it isn’t the only reason. Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t want to underestimate the real pain that some sectors have faced. Whether that’s the logistical nightmare of beef processing or the […] Read more

File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Large Canadian crops expected

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canada will have grown a record-large pea crop in 2020 and possibly the second-largest lentil crop ever, according to preliminary estimates from Statistics Canada, released Monday. Using satellite imagery and model-based yield estimates, the government agency pegged the 2020-21 Canadian field pea crop at 4.996 million tonnes. That would be a new record […] Read more