Farm lender delivers ebullient view of Manitoba ag

Farm lender delivers ebullient view of Manitoba ag

Farm Credit Canada’s Darren Howden says agriculture is faring much better than many other industries

Manitoba’s agriculture industry is generally financially fit, a senior executive with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) told the Keystone Agricultural Producers’ (KAP) online annual meeting Jan. 26. “Grains and oilseeds are doing really well,” Darren Howden, FCC’s senior vice-president of Prairie operations,” told KAP members. “That’s the sector we have the most business in, in Manitoba. There was a really

Incoming WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala takes part in an online meeting before speaking during an interview with Reuters in Potomac, Maryland on Feb. 15, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Joshua Roberts)

Nigeria’s Okonjo-Iweala makes history as new head of WTO

Geneva-based body leaderless for six months; Trump paralyzed some of WTO's functions

Geneva/Washington | Reuters — Three months after the Trump administration rejected her, former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala received unanimous backing on Monday to become the first woman and first African director-general of the World Trade Organization. A self-declared “doer” with a track record of taking on seemingly intractable problems, Okonjo-Iweala will have her work


An image created by Nexu Science Communication, together with Trinity College in Dublin, shows a model structurally representative of a betacoronavirus, the type of virus linked to COVID-19. (Nexu Science Communication via Reuters)

Foreign workers to lose some travel exemptions in March

Temporary foreign workers (TFWs) travelling to Canada won’t need to quarantine in a government-supervised hotel when they get here – for now — but by mid-March, Ottawa will put more stringent measures in place. Starting Feb. 22, non-essential travellers and essential workers arriving in Canada will be tested for COVID-19 upon their arrival. Non-essential travellers

(Glacier FarmMedia photo)

Glacier’s outdoor ag shows preparing digital event lineup

Each show to host multiple online events during 2021

The company hosting Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show and its western counterpart, Ag in Motion, plans to use the online platforms it set up in 2020 to instead host multiple smaller online events this year. Both outdoor ag shows hosted by Winnipeg-based Glacier FarmMedia — the owner of this website — went online in 2020 due


Virtual trade missions a logistical boon but relational challenge

Virtual trade missions a logistical boon but relational challenge

Cereals Canada and the Canola Council of Canada held online trade missions this year and say they were a success

Virtual trade missions have given access to a wider audience but can’t quite replace the connections forged on in-person trips, say two agriculture industry leaders. “There’s no way to replace it, in a sense,” said Brittany Dyck, senior manager of canola utilization with the Canola Council of Canada. “Trade missions, I think, are really about connecting with —

Travel restrictions won’t impact TFWs: federal sources

These workers are deemed essential by the federal government and can quarantine on farm

New travel restrictions imposed on Canadians by the federal government won’t impact the arrival of temporary or seasonal foreign workers, according to sources. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Jan. 29 that Canada’s air carriers had agreed to suspend services to sunny destinations. Flights to tropical locations, like Mexico, are being cancelled by Air Canada, West Jet, Sun Wing and


Meat industry’s 2020 performance ‘phenomenal’: analyst

Meat industry’s 2020 performance ‘phenomenal’: analyst

Kevin Grier lauded the tremendous effort from meat plant workers, management to safely bring packers back online after pandemic shutdowns

Meat plant closures in the early days of the pandemic were hard to wrap his brain around, said analyst Kevin Grier. He recalled the moment he heard Cargill’s beef-processing plant in High River, Alberta had gone down to one shift. “I literally could not believe it because of the ramifications,” Grier said. “Shortly after it

A changing climate could depress growth in global food production by up to 30 per cent by 2050.

Step up adaptation to climate change now or risk ‘enormous toll’

Scientists warn of risks of ignoring issue as COVID measures cuts funding

Reuters – More than 3,000 scientists have called for a far bigger global push to protect people and nature from the effects of a heating planet, even as researchers estimated funding to adapt to climate change has dropped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, the scientists — including five Nobel laureates — warned


U.S. meat packer JBS offers $100 to employees who get COVID-19 vaccine

Meat-packer JBS USA and chicken company Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. said Jan. 21 they will pay $100 to U.S. employees who voluntarily receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The bonus is intended to encourage employees to get inoculations, after thousands of U.S. meat-packing workers became infected with the coronavirus last year. Outbreaks of the disease temporarily shut slaughterhouses

Rural Manitoba libraries have responded to COVID restrictions by adapting their services, curbside pickup being one of them.

Libraries press on in COVID era

From curbside pickup to more e-books, local libraries make the best of it

The past year has been a difficult one for many businesses and offices. As conditions and regulations changed from month to month, libraries — like other businesses — have had to adjust and develop different strategies in order to continue serving the public. It hasn’t been easy but most rural libraries have continued operating to