Reading Time: 2 minutes The number of Canadian organic producers and processors fell by nearly 300 in 2022 according to the latest industry stats. “There’s people coming in and there’s people going out,” said Tia Loftsgard, executive director of the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA).
Organic operators down, acreage up: new industry stats
Total organic sales in 2022 was $10.26, billion up from $9.35 billion in 2021
Farm advice for his ‘younger self’
Reading Time: 2 minutes Steven Snider was Alberta’s Outstanding Young Farmer in 2003. Twenty years later, he’s still running a successful farm near New Norway, Alberta, growing organic heritage grains and organic pulse crops for the organic milling and food processing industries. He also runs Little Red Hen Mills. Looking back over his career, we asked Steven Snider what […] Read more
Gene-edited crops clear CFIA’s regulatory bar
Agency guidance puts gene editing on level of conventional breeding
Reading Time: 4 minutes Plants gene-edited for efficient use of water or nutrients or to better withstand pests or drought now won’t have to clear the same regulatory hurdles in Canada as any crops that are modified for herbicide tolerance or include foreign genes. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced updated guidance from the Canadian Food Inspection […] Read more
Organic no-till soybeans a challenge
An OSCIA project is using cereal rye as a cover crop weed suppressant
Reading Time: 6 minutes No one has ever said organic production is easy. It can be profitable, but just as in conventional row cropping, it’s subject to vagaries in price, weather, weed management and quality. But no-till organic? In soybeans? That’s an entirely different level of thought processing, planning, monitoring and showing flexibility in adjusting to growing season conditions. For […] Read more
Hepatitis A outbreak linked to organic strawberries
Cases reported in two provinces, three states
Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters –– Food safety regulators in both Canada and the U.S. are investigating a hepatitis A outbreak potentially linked to tainted organic strawberries that has sickened 17 people in the U.S. and 10 in Canada, the agencies said. Fifteen illnesses were reported in California, and one each in Minnesota and North Dakota, the […] Read more
Bankrupt organic firm’s Prairie growers to be paid
CGC to issue compensation
Reading Time: 2 minutes Over four dozen Prairie grain growers who supplied a Minneapolis firm specializing in organic and non-GMO grains will get paid in full, the Canadian Grain Commission says. The CGC on Tuesday announced the results of its review of producer claims in the wake of last July’s bankruptcy filing by Pipeline Foods, whose footprint in Canada […] Read more
Some B.C. milk runs resume as roads reopen
Sumas Prairie remains under boil water advisory
Reading Time: 3 minutes Milk pickups are resuming for some southern British Columbia dairy farmers, days after flooding and landslides caused by a days-long rainstorm cut off vehicle traffic through the region. In the wake of the Nov. 14-16 storm, with trucks unable to reach farms, the B.C. Milk Marketing Board on Nov. 16 asked that affected dairy farmers […] Read more
Ardent Mills to buy further into gluten-free
Company plans deal for North Dakota pulse miller Firebird
Reading Time: 2 minutes A major North American flour miller plans to stretch its reach further into the gluten-free milling market with a deal for a North Dakota processor. Ardent Mills said Monday it plans to buy the assets of Firebird Artisan Mills, which processes pulses and specialty grains at Harvey, N.D., about 240 km south of Brandon, Man. […] Read more
Feather sector’s on-farm upgrade program underway
Applications now being accepted for funding
Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal free trade compensation program to help Canada’s poultry and egg producers pay for on-farm upgrades, renovations and improvements is now taking applications. The $646.8 million, 10-year Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program (PEFIP) is now formally underway, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Monday. Each eligible Canadian producer is entitled to an amount proportional […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Roquette pea plant readying for full operation
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Operations at the Roquette pea processing plant just west of Portage la Prairie, Man. have been underway since the end of 2020, according to Michelle Finley of Roquette Canada. The company is working toward full operation at the world’s largest pea plant by early 2022, she said. “To date we have picked up […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
