(Thinkstock photo)

Federal budget plays to mixed reviews from ag groups

Funding for green initiatives, carbon pricing rebate plan hailed

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) says it is “pleased” the 2021 federal budget included some of the recommendations it had made. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s first budget, released April 19, included significant spending to help producers transition to a greener economy and cited agriculture as a foundational pillar of Canada’s future. “CFA will be

Workers disinfect a conveyor belt, part of the measures installed to help slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Seaboard Foods pork-processing plant in Guymon, Oklahoma, May 17, 2020.

U.S. court slams brakes on Trump-era hog slaughter line-speed rule

Union cheers ruling, saying faster line speeds harm processing plant workers

Reuters – The largest U.S. meat-packing union is celebrating a recent victory in Federal Court that it said invalidated a Trump-era rule allowing hog slaughter plants to run without line-speed limits. A lawsuit brought against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and three of its local chapters


Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland arrives to a news conference prior to delivering the budget in the House of Commons in Ottawa on April 19, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Federal budget to offer direct payments to farmers for carbon pricing

Other new 'green growth' funding also on deck

The federal government’s 2021 budget offers up new spending to support farmers combatting climate change through targeted investments — and, in some cases, direct payments. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released the budget Monday, showing the majority of new spending will take place over three years and be largely focused on “green growth.” “Budget 2021 announces

Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland appears at a news conference in Ottawa on Sept. 24, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Agriculture, agrifood wish lists pile up ahead of long-delayed budget

Freeland's budget due out Monday afternoon

Agriculture and agrifood sector stakeholders will learn Monday which of their requests make their way out of the pile and into a long-awaited federal budget. Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s 2021 budget is scheduled to be released Monday in the House of Commons, at about 4 p.m. ET. Canadians didn’t get a 2020 budget: it



(Assnat.qc.ca)

Set-aside funded for Quebec hog, cattle, big game producers

Feds, province pledge $21.8 million AgriRecovery plan

Farmers tending feeder hogs, fed cattle and big game animals such as elk, red deer, bison and wild boar in Quebec can expect $21.8 million in AgriRecovery to compensate for COVID-19’s drag on the province’s slaughter capacity. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her Quebec counterpart Andre Lamontagne on Thursday announced their governments’ respective 60-40


A worker at Cargill’s London, Ont. chicken plant demonstrates the deboning process for a 2014 McDonald’s video on the meat used to make McNuggets. (McDonald’s Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

Cargill shuts Ontario chicken plant against COVID

Other packers being sought to take birds

Agrifood firm Cargill is seeking slaughter space for Ontario chickens at other processors after temporarily closing its London poultry packing plant Tuesday against an outbreak of COVID-19 among workers. The company said Tuesday it was “taking this step out of an abundance of caution as our local workforce deals with the community-wide impacts of COVID-19.”

Even with the pandemic’s end in sight, it is unclear if people will be comfortable going out and about and patronizing their favourite restaurants again.

Comment: The great reset awaits for Canada’s restaurants

As the world ponders going back to normal the food-service sector has changed forever

It was certainly a year to be forgotten for the food service. StatsCan numbers told us this week that sales in the food-service industry dropped by a whopping 32 per cent, from Q4 2019 to Q4 2020. The food retail/service ratio, an important metric to assess how important food service is in our lives, also


Chicken quota allocation up on demand optimism

Chicken quota allocation up on demand optimism

Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) is planning to raise quota allocations in July on optimism for dining demand as the economy starts a “transition towards normalcy” out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chicken Farmers of Ontario on March 24 reported an expected national allocation increase of 1.75 per cent above its adjusted base for period A-170

The signature heavy horse event is just one of many facets of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair that remains on hiatus awaiting better times.

Royal Manitoba Winter Fair takes 50th anniversary virtual

The anniversary fair was postponed at the last minute last year, but with COVID-19 restrictions still in effect, some elements of the event moved online

When organizers postponed last year’s golden jubilee of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, the hope was that 2021 would bring a triumphant return. They looked forward to the day this spring, when entertainers, horse and cattle shows, ag education, petting zoos and trade shows that typically draw thousands to Brandon at the end of March, resumed. COVID-19, however, has had