Reading Time: 2 minutes Dairy co-operative Agropur’s “business continuity” plan against the COVID-19 pandemic calls for job cuts and layoffs for about three per cent of its total workforce. Longueuil, Que.-based Agropur announced Thursday it will eliminate 60 positions and temporarily lay off another 200 employees, all from its Canadian operations. In the “unprecedented context” of COVID-19, Agropur said […] Read more
Pandemic planning leads to staff cuts at Agropur
Dairy co-operative enters 'business continuity' mode
Canola dockage agreement with China expires, but limited exports to continue
Most remaining shipments meet Beijing's requirement
Reading Time: 2 minutes Exports of Canadian canola seed exports to China will continue, at the same reduced pace seen since March last year — but only if it contains less than one per cent dockage. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries allowing higher dockage ends Tuesday (March 31), a Canadian government official said in an […] Read more
China to resume imports of Canadian canola, sources report
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China has agreed to allow imports of Canadian canola to resume, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, lifting a ban in place since March 2019 that had halted US$2 billion worth of trade. The agreement was reached during a call held by China’s customs administration and Canada’s […] Read more
Ottawa expected to ‘officially’ declare ag an essential service
The Western Grain Elevator Association says that designation will clarify things and help to keep grain moving
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s grain industry expects the federal government will soon officially declare agriculture an essential service. Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), says that designation will have a practical application. “Hopefully it ends all confusion about grain workers at elevators, railway workers and anybody else required for moving grain, as to […] Read more
Cross-border truckers exempt from mandatory isolation
TFWs coming to Canada won't be exempt from new rule
Reading Time: 2 minutes Truckers and others who are still allowed to cross into Canada on essential business are exempt from a new two-week self-isolation rule for people arriving in the country. Health Minister Patty Hajdu on Wednesday announced an emergency order under the federal Quarantine Act, requiring anyone who’s entering Canada by land, air or sea to self-isolate […] Read more
Lots of flour to go around, millers’ association says
System is 'doing extremely well' and should have no problem keeping up with demand, CNMA's Gordon Harrison says
Reading Time: 2 minutes The grain supply chain is working as it should during the COVID-19 pandemic, says the president of the Canadian National Millers Association. “From the milling industry vantage point, the movement of grain from farm to the producer to the elevator systems to mills is doing extremely well,” Gordon Harrison said Tuesday. “The grain supply chain […] Read more
‘Essential’ travel rule fuzzy on farmers picking up parts, inputs
U.S. border officers will have final say on Canadian farmers' cross-border business trips
Reading Time: 3 minutes Whether Canadian farmers can continue to pick up machinery parts and other products for their operations in the United States is at the discretion of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. At 11:59 p.m. ET Friday, Canada and the U.S. temporarily restricted non-essential travel between the two nations to try and slow the spread of […] Read more
As customers hoard pot brownies, weed firms see lockdown boost
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Cannabis sales are touching new highs as customers across the U.S. and Canada stockpile weed to prepare for long spells of isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic. Between March 16 and 22, sales of recreational cannabis across California, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska — some of the key U.S. markets — were up 50 […] Read more
North America’s millers, bakers scramble to satisfy bread binge
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago/Winnipeg | Reuters — North American flour mills and bakeries are rushing to boost production as the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus leads to consumer stockpiling of staples such as bread and pasta. The virus’ spread prompted orders to stay at home in some U.S. states, including New York, California and Illinois last week, following […] Read more
Wheat in Whitehorse: How climate change helps feed Canada’s remote regions
Newfoundland and Labrador also pushing to expand arable land base
Reading Time: 3 minutes Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — After failing to grow wheat in the Yukon territory 15 years ago, farmer Steve Mackenzie-Grieve gave it another shot in 2017. Thanks to longer summers, he has reaped three straight harvests. This spring he plans to sow canola on his family’s 450-acre farm near Whitehorse, a city not much further from […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
