Reading Time: 2 minutes A temporary crop insurance expansion that covers Ontario farms against crop losses due to “on-farm labour disruptions” caused by COVID-19 will be held over for yet another year. Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, announced in late December the feature first introduced in 2020 will be included again in 2022, at the same coverage […] Read more
Ontario to extend labour-related crop loss coverage
Losses due to COVID-19-related labour disruptions covered
B.C. floods may tighten market for real Christmas trees
'We're basically shut down until the water recedes'
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Finding the perfect real Christmas tree will be harder and more expensive this year. Canada, the world’s top exporter of natural Christmas trees, is grappling with a shortage that will likely be exacerbated by historic flooding in British Columbia, where some tree farms are underwater. A phenomenon known as an atmospheric […] Read more
Tim Hortons parent to buy Firehouse Subs as other brands drag
Chain's comparable year-to-date sales up 20 per cent against pre-pandemic levels
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Tim Hortons parent Restaurant Brands International said Monday it will buy sandwich chain Firehouse Subs for US$1 billion, at a time when its popular brands are struggling due to increased competition from rivals launching new menu items. Analysts have said fried chicken sandwich pioneer Popeyes, owned by RBI, has been hurt by McDonald’s […] Read more
Pot company Hexo to shut production sites, cut jobs
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Pot producer Hexo Corp. said Tuesday it will close three production sites in Canada in early 2022, affecting 155 employees, as part of its integration plans following recent acquisitions. Gatineau, Que.-based Hexo said it will cease operations at its Kirkland Lake and Brantford facilities in Ontario at the end of January and at […] Read more
Ontario moves to phase out wild boar farming
Province, feds fund swine fever defense plans
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hoping to improve its odds against African swine fever ever getting a toehold in Canada’s hog herds, Ontario plans to regulate Eurasian wild boar as an invasive species starting in the new year. To that end, the province is making funding available to farmers who actively breed and raise wild boar to “shift to other […] Read more
Another La Nina winter predicted
Polar vortex to chill Prairies, more snow further east, AccuWeather says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Data compiled by a U.S. federal weather forecasting agency show La Nina conditions have developed over the central Pacific Ocean and are likely to linger through February. And La Nina, in turn, is expected to produce hard cold snaps over the Prairies, above-normal precipitation over southern British Columbia and relatively mild temperatures with more snow […] Read more
Trimble dealer shores up cross-Canada coverage
Vantage Canada picks up Ontario rights
Reading Time: 2 minutes The company handling sales and service for Trimble precision ag technology across most of Canada has reached a deal to handle the rest of it. Vantage Canada announced Friday it has bought the Trimble dealership rights and assets for Ontario from Premier Equipment, a John Deere dealership chain with nine locations in the province’s southern […] Read more
Feds lock in AgriRecovery funds before election call
Ottawa's pledged share now up to $500 million
Reading Time: 2 minutes Just hours ahead of a federal election call, the federal government has committed $500 million to cover its share of federal/provincial AgriRecovery support plans for drought-hit farmers across Canada’s West. Shortly before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit Sunday to Rideau Hall seeking the dissolution of Parliament for a federal election, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau confirmed […] Read more
Nestle to shut Ontario foodservice processing plant
Trenton facility to close in mid-2022
Reading Time: < 1 minute Global food processing giant Nestle plans to shut a southeastern Ontario plant and move its work to sites in the U.S., citing a “highly competitive” market. The company announced Thursday it will start to wind down work late this year at the Nestle Professional plant at Trenton, where dehydrated dry-blend and frozen products are made […] Read more
Wheat yield program comes to Ontario
New cross-border partnership brings Yield Enhancement Network concept from U.K.
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Winter wheat producers in Ontario and Michigan are collaborating to drive increased productivity for wheat in the Great Lakes basin. A Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) is being formed for wheat bringing together farmers and researchers in Michigan and Ontario. Why it matters: Wheat is sometimes left out of crop rotations because it […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
