Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec cranberry processor Atoka Cranberries is set to become an arm of the U.S.-based cranberry grower co-op Ocean Spray. Massachussetts-based Ocean Spray on Friday announced it would buy the Atoka processing plant at Manseau, Que., about 70 km east of Trois-Rivieres, along with the Atoka brand from berry producer Canneberges Bieler. Financial terms of the […] Read more
Ocean Spray to buy Quebec cranberry processor
Australia takes Canada to WTO over wine rules
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva | Reuters — Australia has complained at the World Trade Organization about Canada’s rules on wine sales, expanding a similar U.S. complaint against one province. In October, Washington accused British Columbia of providing an unfair advantage to local vineyards by giving their wine an exclusive retail channel in grocery store shelves and cutting out […] Read more
Winners of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2017 celebrated
Reading Time: 2 minutes National winners for Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmer for 2017 were awarded on Dec. 1 to Derek & Tannis Axten of Axten Farms in Minton, Sask., and Véronique Bouchard & François Handfield of Ferme aux petits oignons at Mont-Tremblant, Que. “Once again, the seven regional finalists exceeded our expectations as innovative, forward thinking, young agricultural leaders. […] Read more
Quebec veal processors merging
Reading Time: 2 minutes The bulk of Quebec’s veal processing capacity is forming up under one banner as Delimax-Montpak gets set to buy its rival Ecolait out of creditor protection. Delimax-Montpak Group announced Friday it has an agreement in principle to buy St-Hyacinthe-based Ecolait for total consideration of $50 million. Delimax-Montpak said Friday the deal “will allow the veal […] Read more
From hogs to hops
Quebec farm family focuses on supplying local markets with a variety of hops
Reading Time: 3 minutes When Francis Gagné’s family decided to get out of hog production, it prompted the St. Bernard, Que. farmers to go through a process to decide how it wanted to diversify. The family had some flexibility. It continued to grow traditional cash crops and with space for 50,000 broilers, there was cash flow. Gagné says they […] Read more
Injured, dead wild turkeys now reportable in Quebec
Reading Time: < 1 minute To track wild turkey populations and their effects on farms and rural areas, the Quebec government will now require that dead or injured wild turkeys be reported. The province on Friday announced it has added wild turkey to its regulatory list of notifiable animals, which requires that a finding of any dead or injured animal […] Read more
Appeals court revives California ban on foie gras
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday revived a California state law banning the sale of foie gras made from force-fed birds. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a January 2015 lower court ruling striking down the law, saying the judge erred in concluding that the ban conflicted with a federal […] Read more
FCC pledges flexibility for soaked Ontario, Quebec growers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s federal ag lending agency has announced a customer support program to limit “financial pressure” on its farming clients in rain-soaked areas of western Quebec and eastern Ontario. Farm Credit Canada on Wednesday announced the program, in which it said it “will work with customers to come up with solutions for their operation(s) to reduce […] Read more
Drought-related livestock tax deferral zones widen again
Reading Time: 2 minutes More ranchers in five provinces may now be able to defer some of their taxable income from their livestock sales in 2016 due to drought. The federal government on Aug. 4 announced its final list of drought-designated regions where the livestock tax deferral provision will be allowed for the 2016 tax year, and has included […] Read more
No charges against Quebec’s ex-ag minister
Reading Time: < 1 minute Quebec’s director of prosecutions has decided not to pursue criminal charges against the province’s fired agriculture minister over allegations of “acts of a sexual character.” The province’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions (DPCP) announced in a release Monday that the office was “not reasonably convinced” culpability could be proven against the provincial member for […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
