While attending the Council of Dairy Farmers of Quebec’s annual general meeting, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the federal government is providing $376,668 to the Cheese Expertise Centre (CEC). This money will go into two projects to keep Canadian cheese makers “competitive and innovative,” according to Bibeau. “With the assistance provided by… Read More
Agriculture as a whole struggles with finding enough workers — from dairy barns, to grain fields, and, perhaps most acutely, in the fruit and vegetable sector. Automation and robotics can most easily solve repetitive tasks, but designing and developing automation for high-value, highly perishable product is also highly complex — and expensive. Part of the… Read More
In a recent proof-of-concept field trial, the Canadian Sheep Federation partnered with SheepChain LLC to demonstrate how the Canadian sheep industry can capitalize on blockchain-based traceability to add value to Canadian lamb. Canada is the first sheep industry to manage the technology in a real-world setting, tracking lamb from pasture to plate, according to the… Read More
Within an hour of its release, those representing certain sectors of agriculture had their statements prepared and sent out to various media organizations. Their opinion of Canada’s Food Guide was largely determined by where their commodity ended up on the new plate. Dairy industry Although Health Canada made it clear dairy was “still on the… Read More
Canadians have a brand new food guide to help them make decisions when it comes to their nutrition plan, and it’s a large departure from the rainbow of four food groups most have come to recognize. Visualized as a dinner plate, Health Canada’s new offering has plant-based protein and vegetables front and centre. Meat, eggs,… Read More
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has unveiled its GMO labeling law laying out the minimum labeling requirements for food companies and retailers set to go into effect at the start of 2020, with a mandatory compliance date set for the beginning of 2022. As part of the standard, the USDA has created a… Read More
If your goal is to eat local, mushrooms should figure prominently on your list. Canada’s commercial fresh mushroom growers produce about 99% of what you’ll find at the grocery store. What’s more, about 40% of the over 130,000 tonnes of mushrooms produced are exported, mainly to the U.S., and that demand is growing, says Ryan… Read More
There’s no understating just how significant the loss of Canadian pulse exports to India has been this past year. Carl Potts, executive director of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, says that the organization’s budget — directly funded through a value-based levy — fell short by nearly 40%. It shows just how dire the situation has been… Read More
With the impending completion of phase 2 less than five months away, Whole Leaf is set to be the largest lettuce greenhouse operation in North America. The new state-of-the-art facility, opened its doors at Coaldale, Alta., last year. It introduced five proprietary technologies to North American production — making it possible to annually grow “clean, environmentally responsible, and safe”… Read More
McCain Foods is halfway through $45 million and $30 million in updates to its Portage la Prairie and Carberry potato processing facilities, respectively. Upgrades for the Portage la Prairie site started in 2016, and will wrap late next year. The modifications include the addition of a high efficiency potato sorting system, as well as new processing… Read More
Maple Leaf Foods has announced plans to spend $660 million to build a new, 640,000 square foot fresh poultry processing facility at London, Ont., and to invest in projects that “accelerate adoption of advanced manufacturing and production technologies.” Those investments support the company’s goal of reducing its environmental footprint by 50 per cent by 2025. The… Read More
A Quebec cheese processing company will invest in automation and digital technology following federal funding announcements made earlier this week. La Trappe à Fromage de l’Outaouais will receive up to $584,063 to assist the cheese processor purchase and install automation equipment to “optimize processing, improve product quality and production capacity, and food safety.” The company,… Read More
Much of what we produce in agriculture ends up wasted, not eaten. While food waste in your own home may be the first thing you think of, much of food loss and waste happens at processing. Speaking this week at the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI) Public Trust Summit, Cher Mereweather, executive director of… Read More
The federal government has announced close to $153 million for support of the Protein Industries Canada (PIC) Supercluster. The funding will be matched dollar for dollar by the private sector. The funds will help the group – comprised of businesses, post-secondary institutions, and non-profit organizations – move the PIC Supercluster forward. The purpose of the supercluster is… Read More
The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity rolls out its latest public trust data this week in conjunction with its third annual Public Trust Summit, being held at Gatineau, Quebec. The centre conducted two surveys this past year. One was a continuation of its public trust barometer, and the other a Canada-U.S. study which focused on three… Read More