Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada is overhauling its temporary foreign worker program, a government spokeswoman said on Friday, after coronavirus outbreaks on Ontario farms sickened hundreds and led Mexico to demand assurances of proper safeguards. As part of the review, surprise inspections of working and living conditions on farms will immediately increase, Ashley Michnowski, communications […] Read more
TFW program to be overhauled after COVID-19 outbreaks on farms
"The piece that's missing is enforcement"
Food exporters to China asked to declare produce coronavirus-free
Declaration puts onus on exporters for product safety
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China’s customs authority has asked food exporters to the country to sign a declaration their produce is not contaminated by the novel coronavirus, three people who received a letter said on Friday. The declaration, seen by Reuters, may be an effort by China to reduce the additional testing it has carried […] Read more
Uruguayan shearers flown in to relieve sweltering Spanish sheep
Expert shearers authorized to enter country amid COVID-19 pandemic
Reading Time: 2 minutes Villafale, Spain | Reuters — Brought to Spain on a special flight amid the coronavirus lockdown, some 250 Uruguayan sheep shearers race against time to shear millions of Spanish sheep as sweltering summer temperatures hit. The Uruguayan shearers come to Spain every year, where farmers value them for their skills, their speed and particular care […] Read more
Fall quota level based on ‘rebound’ in chicken demand
National allocation trimmed two per cent for September-October period
Reading Time: 2 minutes A relatively small tweak to national chicken quota allocation has been set for much of this autumn, following a stretch of heavy pandemic-related cuts. At a Chicken Farmers of Canada meeting Tuesday, national allocation for quota period A-165 (Aug. 30 to Oct. 24, 2020) was set at minus two per cent from its adjusted base. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures, beef prices decline
Lean hogs up amid technical buying
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures fell Thursday as boxed beef prices tumbled under pressure from rising production. Beef output has increased as meat companies increase slaughtering after temporarily closing processing plants in April and May because of outbreaks of the COVID-19 coronavirus among workers. Processors killed an estimated 120,000 cattle on Thursday, […] Read more
Hog sector hit hard by pandemic
Market weakness seen likely to push some farmers out of business
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — COVID-19 has hit the hog sector hard, with the double-edged sword of large supplies and reduced demand weighing heavily on the market. “The prospect of profitability at current forward prices and at current cash prices is nil… and there’s really no prospect of making anything this year,” said Tyler Fulton, director of risk […] Read more
COVID-19 knocks Agribition off 2020 calendar
Organizers look to 2021, plan 'new digital experiences' in meantime
Reading Time: 2 minutes Another of the Prairies’ major agricultural exhibitions has removed itself from the 2020 schedule. The 50th edition of Canadian Western Agribition, which was scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 this year at Regina’s Evraz Place exhibition park, has been postponed to Nov. 22-27, 2021. Organizers of the not-for-profit event said Wednesday they made the […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Pandemic may pose market opportunity
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Plant protein products were steadily rising in popularity before the COVID-19 pandemic set in — but that industry could also get a boost from consumers shifting away from meat in a post-pandemic world. “There’s an increased level of awareness of hygiene issues in the meat industry,” Vishal Vijay, head of business development at […] Read more
Mexico to stop sending workers to Canadian farms hit by COVID-19
Assurances of worker safety sought, FARMS says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico will stop sending temporary workers to Canadian farms that have registered a coronavirus outbreak and that do not have proper worker protections, Mexico’s labour ministry said on Tuesday, although it will not completely suspend the program. The decision came after a coronavirus outbreak in Ontario hit at least 17 […] Read more
CERB plan, U.S. border closure both extended
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will extend by eight weeks federal income support for those who lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and the border with the United States will remain closed to non-essential travel, the prime minister said on Tuesday. The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which delivers $500 per week to those […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
