Corn has been discounted across much of Ontario because of high levels of DON. There are challenges in marketing especially high infection level corn. (John Greig photo)

How Ontario’s new DON testing cost-share program works

Reading Time: 3 minutes With vomitoxin (DON) levels so prevalent in this year’s corn crop, the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) says a new DON testing cost-sharing initiative will help producers strategically market their grain. Why it matters: OSCIA says cost-sharing will help farmers know how severe their deoxynivalenol (DON) issues are, and how to market their […] Read more

Fall rye flowering near Deerwood, Man. on June 7, 2018. (Allan Dawson photo)

Quebec rye production on the rise

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Rye production was up in Quebec in 2018, one reason being producers supplying hybrid rye for feed to the province’s hog industry. “Feed was coming from out west, but now we’re starting to produce the seed itself here,” said Andre Lussier, who farms near St. Hyacinthe, Que. and is a director with […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf to consolidate Ontario poultry processing

Reading Time: 2 minutes A new $660 million plant at London, Ont. will house Maple Leaf Foods’ Ontario fresh poultry processing operations by mid-2021 as the food processing firm prepares to shut three older facilities. Toronto-based Maple Leaf announced Monday it will build a 640,000-square foot plant at London, billed as “one of the most technologically advanced poultry-processing plants […] Read more


(Dana Omland photo courtesy Ceres Global Ag)

Ceres lands tenant for Niagara-area grain elevator

Reading Time: 2 minutes A former Robin Hood flour mill repurposed as an export grain elevator in the Niagara region will devote the bulk of its capacity to a new tenant starting next summer. Minneapolis-based Ceres Global Ag Corp. announced Tuesday it has a new long-term storage and handling agreement in place with London Agricultural Commodities (LAC). The agreement […] Read more

(FarmBoy.ca)

Sobeys parent to buy fresh-food grocer Farm Boy

Reading Time: 2 minutes The owner of the Sobeys and Canada Safeway chains has a deal in place to buy southern Ontario grocery retailer Farm Boy, a well known patron of the region’s producers. In a deal still subject to review by the federal Competition Bureau, Empire Co. announced Monday it will pay $800 million for the grocery chain, […] Read more


Palmer amaranth. (United Soybean Board photo)

North Dakota still on lookout for Palmer amaranth

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada –– Officials in North Dakota continue to hunt down suspicious plants in a bid to keep the aggressive weed Palmer amaranth from establishing there. Palmer amaranth, a pigweed species, made its first confirmed appearance in North Dakota last month, in a soybean field in McIntosh County, in the south-central area of the state. […] Read more

Beef cattle feeding in Ontario. (DebraLee Wiseberg/iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario plugs holes in wildlife compensation plan

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s agriculture ministry has patched a glitch in its wildlife damage compensation program, in which farmers’ claims risked rejection over the validity of their farm business registrations. “We heard livestock farmers’ concerns with the program so we’re making the first changes effective immediately,” Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman said in a release Monday. “We’re also continuing […] Read more


A drone hovers over crops near Laval, Que. in 2015. (Onfokus/iStock/Getty Images)

Drone data firm invests in precision ag analytics

Reading Time: < 1 minute Southwestern Ontario crop input retailer and grain handler South West Ag Partners has made a deal to sell its precision agriculture analytics business to an expansion-minded drone data provider. Toronto-based Deveron UAS announced Aug. 28 it will trade a 9.9 per cent share of its business plus $320,000 cash for South West Ag’s Veritas Farm […] Read more

(Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario bean production seen well above StatsCan estimate

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Ontario bean growers are voicing skepticism of Statistics Canada’s Aug. 31 bean production estimates. Estimates by the Ontario Bean Growers organization suggest farmers are poised to harvest about 101,495 tonnes this year — 28.5 per cent above the Statistics Canada number of 79,000 tonnes. OBG chair Jim Gowland said his organization reaches […] Read more