Loblaw, Weston bake the numbers, burn consumers

Loblaw, Weston bake the numbers, burn consumers

As shocking as it was, most of us will eventually forget Loblaw’s admission of price-fixing. Let’s hope the industry doesn’t


Most Canadians were stunned and dismayed to learn that the country’s leading grocer was caught up in a price-fixing scheme with bread maker George Weston Ltd., which is owned by the same company. The scheme lasted from 2001 to 2015. As a result, Loblaw Companies fired several people and gave $25 gift certificates to millions

Robb Fraley is the executive vice-president and chief technology officer for Monsanto Co.

Explosion of innovation coming to the farm

The chief technology officer for Monsanto Co. says the interface between data and biology will be a powerful tool

There is an explosion of innovation coming to the farm as a new age of sensors and satellite imagery intersects with the world’s oldest industry, the executive vice-president and chief technology office for Monsanto Co. says. Robb Fraley, who was in Calgary recently to address the GrowCanada Conference, said in an interview that although agriculture



A worker checks mining equipment at the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan’s Lanigan mine.

Merged fertilizer firm Nutrien eyes U.S. farm suppliers

Regulatory-driven divestitures are creating a sizable war chest for acquisitions

Nutrien, the company to be formed from the merger of Agrium and PotashCorp of Saskatchewan, plans to expand its U.S. farm supply network and return cash to shareholders, Chuck Magro, Agrium CEO, said Nov. 15, as it leverages unusually flush coffers during an agriculture slump. Regulators in China and India require Potash to divest minority



Delegates discuss soil health issues, solutions and what should be included in a hypothetical soil health kit during a breakout session of the Global 4-H Summit.

4-H’ers dig into soil health policy and education

Soil health was a repeat topic as 4-H members from around the world turned their attention to sustainable agriculture and food security

It’s time to think about what lies below our feet. That was the message delegates from 35 countries received from multiple speakers at the recent Global 4-H Summit in Ottawa. Soil health emerged from several workshops during the third day of the July 11-14 conference, themed around sustainable agriculture and food security. Syngenta Canada, also


Wheat farmer checking his crop.

Take this test before making your marketing decisions

To make sure you’re making smart marketing decisions, you need to honestly answer a few questions

John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States from 1961 to 1963, had some unique insights and understanding of farming finances and economics. During a 1960 speech in South Dakota at a National Plowing Contest, then senator Kennedy shared some thoughts that still hold true today: “The farmer is the only man in

An anti-CETA protest in Vienna, Austria in 2016.

CETA: A false solution to economic and political woes

Since Donald Trump took office as president of the United States, a shocking list of executive orders is making people around the world uneasy about unpredictable days ahead. Democracy and civil liberties are in peril. It is reasonable for Canadian and European officials to respond with concern to Trump’s aberrations. But it appears that, fearing


Donald J. Trump

Promises made, promises kept

U.S. farmers are reaping the whirlwind of their bargain with Trump

Of all the words used to describe President Donald J. Trump during his first weeks in office — bold, boastful, alternative facts — here are two that almost no person or pundit uttered: promise keeper. Love him or loathe him, Trump took no time in checking off key items from his unconventional campaign’s list of

Free trade, rural Canada and how to avoid being Trumped

Free trade agreements aren’t the panacea they’re purported to be, a better approach is needed

Over the decades since the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and later, NAFTA, was signed, Canadian agriculture has undergone a significant shift. There was once a multitude of diverse local and regional economic drivers, but now we have a “one-size-fits-all” export-driven, low-priced commodity production model. Farm capital needs have skyrocketed as illustrated by the massive