The Ontario Independent Meat Processors (OIMP) will be diving more into the issue around labour shortages along with market access in a three-part initiative. Recently, OIMP received money from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership and will be using it to explore and identify what’s holding back the industry when it comes to expanding their markets. “Labour… Read More
NexusAg, a division of Univar Solutions, has rebranded to NexusBioAg, following a distribution agreement with Acceleron BioAg. The new brand will be the sole distributor of Novozymes in Canada. “We signed on an exclusive distribution agreement and along with that, we’ve also incorporated the sales staff, marketing and communications team as well as head office… Read More
Farmers across Canada will have five new fungicides in their disease management toolbox in 2020. This week, Syngenta Canada rolled out Miravis, a new fungicide umbrella brand that will offer five new products growers can use to fight disease in a range of crops. In this video, Eric Phillips, Syngenta Canada’s fungicides and insecticides product… Read More
Ag Growth International Inc. is making a minority equity investment of US$15 million in Farmobile, Inc. Farmobile, headquartered in Leawood, Kansas, is an independent agriculture technology company, providing hardware and software services for the real-time collection, organization, analysis, and storage of farm data. The Farmobile device collects and streams real-time, geo-tagged agronomic and machine data… Read More
BASF has retooled how it moves its products to customers and plans to launch the direct-to-retail model in full for the 2020 growing season. Called RetailConnect, the distribution model for seed and crop protection products will work directly with independent retailers across Western Canada. The full roll-out follows what BASF calls successful piloting of RetailConnect… Read More
As farmers head out to spray, it appears as though many aren’t thinking about buying new anytime soon. Machinery sales in Canada continue to drop month after month. According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ (AEM) monthly report, combine sales were down 46.8 per cent compared to June of last year. When it comes to… Read More
Over the past number of years, there has been an increase in labour shortages for both meat processors and those in mushroom production. To put it in perspective, there are nearly 1,700 empty butcher stations at meat processing plants across Canada, and as far as mushroom production goes, their job vacancy rate has almost doubled… Read More
This past week ILTA Grain Inc. announced it was granted creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). In a letter to its vendors and suppliers dated July 8th, 2019, CEO Dan Burneski stated the decision to file was not taken lightly, but “a necessary step” to address its financial situation. “The CCAA filing… Read More
The Alberta government is extending their hand to ranchers who take care of the land they lease. Those who demonstrate “exemplary care for public lands” will be allowed to lease the land to a maximum of 20 years. The change, according to a news release, will allow ranchers to spend more time focusing on their… Read More
In a survey of over 1,300 Canadian farm employers, 47 per cent say they can not fulfill their labour needs, and one in three respondents said they receive zero Canadian applicants when they post an available job. With approximately 37 per cent of the workforce expected to retire in the next 10 years, agriculture’s labour… Read More
The Alberta government has once again extended the deadline for farmers and farm workers to apply for their Class 1. Under new rules, a person working on a farm will have until Nov. 30, 2020 to apply for the extension through Alberta Transportation. If approved, this allow applicants to go through the pre-Mandatory Entry-Level Training… Read More
Ceres Global Ag plans to close its acquisition of Delmar Commodities, located at Winkler, Man., next month. Ceres currently operates in five locations including Duluth, Minneapolis, and Shakopee, MN, Northgate, Sask., and Port Colborne, Ont. Ceres president and CEO Robert Day says they believe the addition of Delmar’s grain assets is an important first step… Read More
Citing the lack of moisture over the past few months, the Manitoba Government has announced it will be allowing livestock producers to temporarily let their livestock graze, and cut hay on Crown land not typically used for agriculture. “Under certain circumstances, Crown land can be made available for agricultural use,” the statement reads. According to… Read More
The Barley Council of Canada has announced it will be realigning its services and operations to collaborate with Cereals Canada, the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC), and the Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute (BMBRI). “Over the past few months, we have engaged in a comprehensive review of the roles and responsibilities of our… Read More
Following the retirement of Neil Currie come the end of August, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has announced its new general manager. Cathy Lennon will take over, bringing a “plethora of experience.” “OFA is grateful to the long-term leadership of retiring general manager Neil Currie,” says Keith Currie, OFA president. “He had led our… Read More