Grapes Archives | Manitoba Co-operator

A wine grower lights heaters early in the morning, to protect vineyards from frost damage outside Chablis, France, April 7, 2021.

French winemakers set candles, straw ablaze to ward off frost

Spring cold snaps are coming earlier, therefore colder

By Sarah Meyssonnier, Sybille De La Hamaide April 16, 2021

Chablis, France | Reuters – French winemakers have lit candles and burned bales of straw to try to protect their vineyards from sharp spring frosts, with the forecast of more cold nights this week raising fears of serious damage and lost production. Temperatures plunged as low as -5 C overnight in wine regions including Chablis,

(Groupe Soufflet video screengrab via YouTube)

Crops

InVivo in talks to acquire French agribusiness Soufflet

Firms see limited overlap outside grain trading

By GFM Network News, Gus Trompiz, Sybille De La Hamaide January 14, 2021

Paris | Reuters — Co-operative group InVivo has entered exclusive talks to acquire family-controlled Soufflet in a deal that would create one of Europe’s biggest agricultural businesses with 10 billion euros (C$15.5 billion) in sales, the French firms said on Wednesday. The potential consolidation comes as France, the European Union’s largest agricultural producer, is trying

Agricultural workers gather on Dec. 2, 2020, whilst blocking the Panamericana Sur highway at Villacuri, Peru, during a protest over a long-standing but controversial agrarian law. (Photo: Reuters/Sebastian Castaneda)

Crops

Peru farm protests grip country, turn deadly

'There are no harvests, there is nothing'

By GFM Network News December 3, 2020

Lima | Reuters — Protests by farm workers demanding better wages in Peru raged on for a fourth day Thursday, spreading north into key agricultural areas of the Andean nation, derailing harvests of some crops, snarling transport of produce and leaving at least one dead. Peruvian interim President Francisco Sagasti called the death of a

Canadian food laureate Anita Stewart, 73

Guelph flags to be lowered for Food Day Canada founder

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News November 3, 2020

Flags at the University of Guelph are to be flown at half-mast Tuesday in honour of Canadian food advocate Anita Stewart, who died Thursday in hospital in Hamilton. Stewart, 73, was the first person in the world to be conferred with the title of “food laureate,” as she was named by the University of Guelph

Foreign worker isolation support extended

Federal program extended alongside federal restrictions

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News November 2, 2020

The federal program helping employers of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) cover the costs of isolating new workers for two weeks on their arrival in Canada has been extended through November. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Monday that the Mandatory Isolation Support for Temporary Foreign Workers Program will now run to Nov. 30, as the government

Feds seek feedback on farm worker living conditions

Consultations focused on 'primary agriculture' labour stream of TFWs

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News October 28, 2020

Improving and standardizing living conditions for temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in Canada — specifically, those on Canadian farms — is the subject of a new round of federal consultations. Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough and Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Tuesday announced consultations are now underway until Dec. 22 with “provinces and territories, employers, workers, worker

File photo of a quality control check on fresh peppers in a Canadian vegetable packing plant. (Jeffbergen/E+Getty Images)

Federal program to protect farms, workers from COVID-19 underway

'Highest-risk' farming operations to get priority, Bibeau says

By D.C. Fraser, GFM Network News October 5, 2020

Applications are now open for a federally-administered $35 million emergency on-farm support fund to help limit the impacts of COVID-19 on farms and on-farm workers. Aimed at farm workplaces and employee living quarters, the fund is being managed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), but cost-shared with participating producers at a 50-50 level. Money is

Los Angeles County firefighters patrol the front fire lines Friday night from the Bobcat Fire near Juniper Hills, California on Sept. 18, 2020.

Comment, Op/Ed

Comment: As California burns, so does our winter lettuce

Canada has always relied on imported fresh fruits and vegetables in the winter months

By Sylvain Charlebois September 25, 2020

California is on fire. Although most of the fire-affected territory has nothing to do with agriculture, the smoke is so intense that it could damage many crops. As the fall approaches, the California fires could affect our food supply in Canada for the coming months. Like the labour issues affecting farmers this summer domestically, this

Wine grapes are seen hanging with remnants of smoke and ash at Hanson Vineyards at Woodburn, Oregon, about 45 km south of Portland, on Sept. 17, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Crops, Weather

Charred U.S. west’s ‘wet ashtray’ wine grapes left to birds

By GFM Network News, Karl Plume September 23, 2020

Reuters — Heavy ground smoke clouded Hanson Vineyards in Oregon’s picturesque Willamette Valley for more than a week following a Labour Day windstorm that kicked up wildfires across the western United States. Jason Hanson expects his crews may only harvest five tons of grapes, including his Chardonnay and Gamay varieties, down from the 25 to

Flames from the Hennessey Fire are seen in the last image from a tower-mounted camera before it melted, according to AlertWildfire, on Atlas Peak northwest of Vacaville, Calif. on Aug. 18, 2020. (Photo: Alertwildfire.org/Handout via Reuters)

Crops, Weather

‘Lightning siege’ sparks wildfires across California wine country

Almost 11,000 strikes reported over 72 hours

By GFM Network News August 20, 2020

Vacaville, California | Reuters — Lightning strikes sparked dozens of wildfires in northern California’s wine country on Wednesday, burning dozens of structures and forcing thousands to flee their homes. California was hit by nearly 11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours, sparking 367 fires, nearly two dozen of them major, as the state suffered a record

Feed weekly outlook: New-crop prices to rise

U.S. grains: Soybean futures fall after rain

U.S. livestock: July hogs limit-down to lowest since late March

GFM Network News