As the calendar flips to June, farmers are urgently trying to complete planting or seeding across Canada. No matter the reason, whether you are feeling behind or there’s poor weather on the horizon, we all tackle the logistical challenges of planting and seeding in different ways. Some farmers are solo artists, while others have large… Read More
If the very idea of hiring a new employee stresses you out, the HR Toolkit offered by the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) might help. What’s more, your general farm organization membership may get you the toolkit free-of-charge. CAHRC is a national, non-profit organization focused on addressing human resource issues specific to farming and… Read More
The federal government is planning to boost funding for environmental programs through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in the 2022 budget introduced on April 7. While the budget contains projections of a $52.8 billion deficit and national debt totalling $1.2 trillion at the end of 2022-23, the $452.3 billion spending plan and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s… Read More
Changes have been made to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program, announced earlier this week by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. The Program Workforce Solutions Road Map is an initiative that marks the next step in an ongoing effort to adjust and improve the TFW Program to ensure it continues to meet the… Read More
The work stoppage has begun for Canadian Pacific Railway (CP Rail) as of early Sunday morning, with both the union and the railway accusing the other of initiating the halting of rail services. As of early Sunday, both CP and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) were still at the table with federal mediators, according… Read More
Funding of up to $3.7 million is available through the Youth Employment and Skills Program (YESP). The federal program will support approximately 300 jobs for youth in the agriculture sector this year. Available for employees ages 15 to 30, the YESP aims to provide young Canadian with job experience in agriculture that could lead to… Read More
With an eye to the future, cattle prices and cut-out values will eventually have to reflect significant shifts in labour and robotics, packaging, transport, and sustainability demands on the sector. Over the last 23 months, there’s been a lot of talk about supply chains moving from just-in-time delivery to a more of a just-in-case type… Read More
Edited: This story has been updated, including the headline, to reflect the public health district rescinding the original letter that blocked TFW movement into the health region until February 2, 2022. The Windsor Essex public health region has rescinded a statement invoking a section of the Reopening Ontario Act, 2020, to stop temporary foreign workers from… Read More
I’ve been having this conversation a lot lately, as I’m sure many of you have been too — I’m not sure how we’re at the end of December already. Although the last couple of weeks have shown some true winter temperatures, it has been abnormally warm (and dry) in my area, which I’m convinced has… Read More
One challenge that many farmers face is how to pass the reins of an operation to a successor and how to get out of the way, but not go away. Dick Wittman learned plenty of valuable lessons managing a family-operated 20,000 acre crop, cattle, and timber operation in northern Idaho. He now heads Wittman Consulting, specializing… Read More
UFCW Local 401 says its members who work at Cargill’s High River beef processing plant have voted 71 per cent in favour of the most recent agreement offered by Cargill, averting a strike or lockout that was set to begin December 6. The latest offer from Cargill included retroactive pay, signing bonuses, a 21 per… Read More
When it comes to skilled labour needs in agriculture, we’re very good at identifying and quantifying the gap. However, as an industry where we’ve lagged is in making progress on the action items required to fill that gap. Cam Dahl, general manager of the Manitoba Pork Council, says that while the labour shortage is not… Read More
Unionized employees at Cargill’s High River, Alta., processing plant will vote on a new bargaining agreement beginning December 2nd, and ending on December 4th. “We are encouraged by the outcome of yesterday’s (Nov. 30) meeting with the union bargaining committee representing our High River team,” a Cargill spokesperson said in a Dec. 1 email to… Read More
For the second consecutive year, Thunder Bay, Ont. dairy farmer Peggy Brekveld will lead the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the province’s largest general farm organization. Brekveld was elected president by OFA’s board of directors after the conclusion of the organization’s annual general meeting on Monday, Nov. 22. Mark Reusser and Drew Spoelstra were re-elected as… Read More
Addressing the shortage of workers in agriculture, “everything related to the climate transition,” and preparing for an upcoming meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts — those are the first three priorities Marie-Claude Bibeau mentions when asked about her to-do list as she returns as Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. Following a third consecutive… Read More
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