Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. crop commodities trader Bunge Global posted a larger-than-expected quarterly profit drop on Wednesday and warned that 2025 earnings could sink to the lowest in six years as trade tensions and biofuel policy uncertainty drag on the agricultural sector.
Bunge Q4 profit falls on weak crush margins, forecasts 2025 earnings drop
Trade tensions and biofuel uncertainty weigh on sector
GFI closes Saskatchewan operations
Reading Time: 2 minutes Global Food and Ingredients, a plant-based and plant protein company with facilities in Saskatchewan, has announced a “wind down” of its business operations. A May 7 news release on the GFI website says the company cannot service its outstanding debts.
Protein sector faces labour crunch: report
Nearly two thirds of agri-food companies can't hire all the workers they need
Reading Time: 3 minutes Government, industry and educational institutes must act now to address the labour challenges confronting the emerging plant-based protein industry in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, according to a new report.
Feds plan to invest in processing projects
The money comes from a fund earmarked to help supply managed sectors hurt by trade deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government will invest $89 million in 49 processing projects in the supply managed sector. Agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay was in Ingleside, Ont., at the Lactalis Canada cheese plant to make the Feb. 5 announcement. The projects are through the six-year, $397.5-million Supply Management Processing Investment Fund, which is part of Ottawa's commitment to help sectors that lost market share due to trade agreements.
Olymel to consolidate Ontario, Quebec further-processing
Chicken plant at Paris, Ont., and pork plant at Princeville, Que. to close
Reading Time: 3 minutes Pork and poultry packer Olymel is preparing to permanently shut two further-processing facilities and shift their work to other plants in a new round of consolidation. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec’s Sollio Cooperative, announced Wednesday it will permanently close its pork boning and packaging plant at Princeville, Que. effective Nov. 10, and its […] Read more
Alberta potatoes chip in $2.9 billion for Canadian economy
New report verifies what many in industry suspected
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta’s potato industry is making a big impact — not just on that province but the entire country. A new report — dubbed a “landmark study” by the Potato Growers of Alberta — revealed the sector drove a total contribution of $2.87 billion to Canada’s economy in 2022. It also notes the nationwide creation of […] Read more
Inflation, interest rates, input costs catch up to meat sector
Canada's meat industry hits hard times
Reading Time: 4 minutes There’s been a torrent of bad news in the meat sector in the last two months. Tyson Foods reported its first quarterly loss since 2009; HyLife’s processing plant in Windom, Minn., declared bankruptcy; Smithfield Foods is closing 40 sow farms in Missouri; Olymel announced the permanent closure of its Vallée-Jonction hog plant in Quebec; and […] Read more
JBS opens cleaning unit after outside firm fined for hiring kids
Company says has cut ties to cleaning contractor
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA, one of the biggest U.S. meatpackers, is creating an internal company to clean some of its processing plants after a private sanitation firm it employed was accused of hiring children for dangerous work. The launch shows the complexities involved in replacing Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), a firm that […] Read more
Canola crush of 2022 smallest in five years
Meanwhile, soybean crush rose on the year
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that 2022 had the smallest domestic canola crush for a calendar year since 2017. As well, 2022 marked the smallest canola oil production in five years and the least amount of canola meal produced in four years. The sharp reduction of canola being crushed was due to the 2021 […] Read more
Alberta plans new ag processing tax credit
Incentive to be introduced in 2023 budget
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta has telegraphed plans for a new provincial tax credit in its upcoming budget to spur development in the ag processing sector. The province on Tuesday announced plans for what it calls the Alberta Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit — a 12 per cent, “non-refundable” tax credit for corporations making capital investments in “value-added agri-processing” in […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
