Foodbanks are reporting more use across Canada, and any recent trip to the grocery store proves that lately the same amount of money buys less food. But what’s causing that price hike? Al Mussell, research lead at Agri-Food Economic Systems, says that there are several things coming together right now that are increasing the cost… Read More
Category: Industry Issues
The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI) released its annual public trust research findings during the organization’s 2021 Public Trust Summit on Oct. 19. This year’s data shows that “Canadians are concerned about the food system as a whole, they are feeling information overload, the pandemic didn’t have as significant effect as originally believed, and… Read More
Poorer than average potato yields in Western Canada as well as in Idaho and the Columbia Basin in the U.S has created contracting headaches and supply issues for the processing sector. The tight supplies are having big impacts on the retail channel, as well. Potato production isn’t like any other commodity, where the processor can… Read More
Cleanfarms has announced a return to British Columbia’s interior, holding one-day events at 11 locations September 27 to October 21. Cleanfarms will collect unwanted, old agricultural pesticides and obsolete livestock, equine, and farm animal medications. Cleanfarms operates this no-cost program so that farmers can safely dispose of unwanted materials, keeping them out of the environment…. Read More
There’s growing concern about a federal excise tax that will greatly impact Canada’s craft distilleries. A campaign, called “Lift Canada’s Spirits,” is a coalition of small to large distilleries whose goal is to reduce the excise tax on the first small annual volume of spirits produced to be more in line with domestic, craft beer… Read More
There’s never a dull moment in the fertilizer market and it’s hard not to wonder what will be in store for producers for the 2022 crop year. Josh Linville, director of fertilizer at StoneX, recently joined Shaun Haney on RealAg Radio to discuss the fertilizer markets, including what’s happening with tariffs. During Linville’s last conversation… Read More
Protein Industries Canada (PIC) is announcing the Food Convergence Innovation (FCI) Canada – Food and Beverage Supply Chain Project. The FCI-Canada Project will focus on creating a national, sector-wide platform with enterprise-to-enterprise connectivity capabilities, which will help strengthen Canada’s domestic food supply chain. Linking food and beverage companies across the country, the project will make… Read More
Cleanfarms has released its first-ever national benchmark report, based on an 18-month research project, that documents how much plastic material is generated by the agricultural sector across Canada. The research provides in-depth figures that will help guide the ag sector as it explores how agricultural plastics packaging and products can contribute to Canada’s emerging circular… Read More
Not so long ago, agricultural law didn’t get a lot of attention — there were other areas of law, such as business, family, or criminal law, that were much more established. It’s an area of practice that has changed so much in the last 50 years, and someone who’s been at the forefront of it… Read More
The Simpson Centre at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy recently commissioned a series of papers on the future of agriculture in Alberta. The objective of the publication is to analyze the traditional agriculture industries in Alberta, but one paper in the series caught the publishers off guard. “Many people like to think… Read More
Everyone enjoys a good spirit or two, and many Canadians, when looking for a bottle of their favourite spirit, will check to see if it’s been produced from Canadian grains. A recent policy change in Alberta could lead to fewer markets for Alberta cereals and more imports of the raw materials from elsewhere. Jan Westcott… Read More
February 1, 2021, four seed industry groups amalgamated to form Seeds Canada with the vision to become the leading voice of the Canadian seed sector, helping members succeed and grow in Canada, and around the world. RealAg Radio host Shaun Haney was recently joined by Seeds Canada’s Barry Senft, executive director, and Ellen Sparry, the group’s inaugural… Read More
Saskatchewan’s push towards developing value-added processing industries has been accelerating in recent years. Just this year, three canola crush plants have either been announced as new builds or expansions. But canola isn’t the only agri-processing moving ahead, as Red Leaf Pulp recently announced its plans to build a wheat straw-based pulp mill at Regina, Sask…. Read More
The disconnect between the cutout value and the fed cattle cash market has continued to frustrate producers in Canada and the U.S. South of the border, the temperature is rising for politicians to grasp some political will, while in Canada the volume has been much quieter on the matter. With the choice cutout reaching US$330… Read More
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has launched an advocacy campaign called Home Grown in an effort to decrease the loss of farmland to development. “Once it’s paved over, it’s gone forever,” the organization says. Home Grown focuses on protecting and preserving farmland and domestic food production, and is designed to increase awareness on the issue and… Read More