Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta farmers’ co-operative UFA is set to get out of an “increasingly competitive” space in the retail sector by closing its outdoor supply chain Wholesale Sports. The co-operative, which bought what was then a seven-store chain in 2008, announced Thursday it would start inventory liquidation sales Friday at all 12 of its remaining Wholesale Sports […] Read more
UFA to shut down outdoor outfitter business
Agropur to take control of Iogo, Olympic yogurt maker
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ultima Foods, the Canadian maker of Iogo and Olympic yogurt products, is set to become the sole property of Quebec dairy producers’ co-op Agropur. Agropur and Agrifoods International Co-operative, which combined their yogurt manufacturing and marketing operations in 1993 to form Ultima as a 50-50 joint venture, announced a deal Thursday which will see Agropur […] Read more
CHS replaces CEO after earnings decline, Brazil exposure
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — CHS Inc., the biggest U.S. agricultural co-operative, named a new chief executive on Monday, after suffering a sharp decline in income and confirming it was a creditor of a failing Brazilian commodities trader. Minnesota-based CHS picked Jay Debertin to take over immediately for Carl Casale, who had been CEO for six […] Read more
Farm sales to co-ops to count for small business deduction
Reading Time: 2 minutes Changes to federal tax law that were meant to block “multiplication” of the small business deduction for corporations won’t apply to farmers’ sales to co-operatives. The federal government on Friday released draft amendments to the Income Tax Act, which would allow qualifying farmers and fishers selling to agricultural and fisheries co-operatives to be eligible for […] Read more
A farm in Tuscany
Could you make a success of an Italian farm?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Behind them lies the whole grandeur of the Tuscan countryside. Before them is Casanova, the farm that is the pride of them all. They stand there, three generations of Conte men; grandfather Santo, current owner Bartolo, and grandson Raphael who is preparing for a future on the farm. There will be no shortage of challenges […] Read more
Coop federee cracks $6 billion mark in revenues
Reading Time: 2 minutes Revenues for expansion-minded Quebec agrifood and retail co-operative La Coop federee crossed the $6 billion mark in fiscal 2016, leading to a substantial jump in patronage dividends to producers. The co-operative at its annual meeting reported earnings, before patronage dividends and income taxes, of $275.44 million on $6.335 billion in revenues for fiscal 2016, up […] Read more
Scotsburn ice cream business sale to Agropur cleared
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s biggest dairy co-operative has been given the all-clear to close its deal for an Atlantic dairy co-op’s ice cream business. Agropur Co-operative on Thursday announced it has bought the assets of Truro, N.S.-based Scotsburn Co-operative Services, which include the company’s plants in Truro and in Lachute, Que. as well as the Scotsburn brand name. […] Read more
InVivo pursues co-op alliances to vie with grain, chemical giants
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — France’s InVivo wants to expand international partnerships with other co-operatives, including in joint buying of crop supplies and shipping fixtures, as it tries to compete with global grain trading and chemical firms, its CEO said on Wednesday. InVivo, a grouping of 220 agricultural co-operatives and one of the largest exporters of […] Read more
Not your same old board
Today’s farming is increasingly sophisticated. Now its boards are too, which is good news all around
Reading Time: 5 minutes Agricultural boards are under pressure. They can no longer do business the way they always used to, says Rob Black, chief executive officer at the Rural Ontario Institute, a charitable organization in Guelph, Ont. that helps build leadership skills. This time, though, the pressure is coming from their farmers, and especially from the farmers they […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
