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
Mexico to stop sending workers to Canadian farms hit by COVID-19
Assurances of worker safety sought, FARMS says
CEBA expanded to farms, other ‘owner-operated’ businesses
Program offers zero-interest, partly-forgivable loans
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farms and other “owner-operated” businesses with little or no payroll may soon be able to get in on a federal program offering zero-interest loans to businesses up against pandemic-related drops in revenue. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday announced an expansion of eligibility under the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) to also include “sole proprietors […] Read more
Temporary foreign workers to be allowed in, Canada reiterates
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will allow temporary foreign workers with valid visas to enter the country, officials said on Friday, offering possible salvation to the agriculture industry even as Ottawa moves to limit the spread of a coronavirus outbreak. Canada’s labour-strapped farms rely heavily on nearly 60,000 temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to help plant […] Read more
How healthy are mid-sized farms?
A decade ago, mid-size farms were on the endangered list. Today, most are thriving while they ponder what comes next
Reading Time: 11 minutes From coffee shop to conference hall and from boardroom to classroom, it’s the question we keep asking — what’s the future of the mid-size farm? Even the 98 per cent of Canadians who haven’t been on a farm in a generation or two talk about it from time to time. It seems there’s a solid […] Read more
Grain World: Farm consolidation key to increasing yields
Reading Time: 2 minutes Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — Consolidating farms — going from numerous small operations to fewer, but much larger, farms — is central to improving crop yields, according to grain industry observers Neil Townsend and Jason Newton. Townsend is the chief market analyst for FarmLink Marketing Solutions, while Newton is the chief economist and head of marketing […] Read more
Hopes for trade breakthrough fade as China cancels U.S. farm visits
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A U.S.-China trade deal appeared elusive on Friday after Chinese officials unexpectedly canceled a visit to farms in Montana and Nebraska amid two days of ongoing talks in Washington. Chinese officials were expected to visit U.S. farmers next week as a goodwill gesture, but canceled to return to China sooner than […] Read more
U.S. Midwest’s catastrophic floods cause widespread damage
Reading Time: 3 minutes Brownville, Neb. | Reuters — Severe flooding caused by rainfall and melting snow devastated farms and towns in Nebraska and Iowa on Tuesday, leaving at least four people dead and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, with waters yet to crest in parts of the region for several days. The floods inundated stretches […] Read more
Zimbabwe orders illegal settlers to vacate farms
Reading Time: 2 minutes Harare | Reuters — Zimbabwe’s new agriculture minister on Wednesday ordered illegal occupiers of farms to vacate the land immediately, a move that could ultimately see some white farmers who say they were unfairly evicted return to farming. Perrance Shiri, a military hardliner who was head of the air force before being picked for the […] Read more
Quebec sets up single line for flooded farmers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Quebec farmers whose operations have been hit by flooding in recent weeks will have a single number to call for provincial support starting Tuesday. The province’s agriculture ministry (MAPAQ), public security ministry (MSP) and ag lending agency, la Financiere agricole du Quebec (FADQ) on Friday announced a “concerted effort” to manage supports for flood-affected farms. […] Read more
Urban agriculture in Germany
Could Munich’s urban farm be a model for Canada, helping improve quality of life in our cities and narrow the urban-rural divide?
Reading Time: 6 minutes If you have never heard of the now-extinct Schlüter tractor brand, what you need to know is that the company produced some famously unique looking machines during its corporate life. Now, this was the first opportunity I’d ever had to see a working Schlüter tractor, and it came in a city — although still on […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
