COVID-19 Archives - Page 43 of 81 - Manitoba Co-operator

Comment: Time to improve conditions for foreign workers

Temporary foreign worker programming earneda hot seat this year due to workers falling ill with COVID-19

By D.C. Fraser September 15, 2020

Now is the time for the Canadian government to overhaul the country’s foreign worker program. It is the right thing to do and will benefit Canadian agriculture. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many of the shortcomings of the current program, which sees thousands of people come to Canada each year to work on farms across

‘Undermining food manufacturing is to deny the agri-food sector its strategic foothold. Innovating and growing an economy, especially in rural communities, becomes more challenging.’ – Sylvain Charlebois.

Comment, Op/Ed, Other

Comment: Walmart flexes its muscles and food processors suffer

Canadian food manufacturing has lost 12 jobs a day everyday since 2012 and a July announcement by Walmart Canada won’t help

By Sylvain Charlebois September 14, 2020

Consumers got a glimpse of how food supply chains work — or don’t — at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now Walmart is giving them a chilling new perspective. During the panic-buying phase in the early spring, few experts in the food industry would have predicted the unprecedented levels of vertical co-ordination and incredible

Cargill’s beef plant in High River, Alta., was among those closed temporarily due to COVID-19 this year, prior to the Emergency Processing Fund being announced.

News, Other

Feds commit first $10 million to support food processors

The first funds will be flowing out of the Emergency Processing Fund promised to packers in May for upgrading COVID-19 prevention

By D.C. Fraser September 11, 2020

The first spending round of a $77.5-million fund to help food processors in the wake of COVID-19 is being rolled out by the federal government. On Sept. 4, Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced 32 projects have been approved for up to $10.54 million in federal funds to help mitigate impacts of COVID-19. Money,

Editorial, Op/Ed, Other

Reporter’s Take: COVID-19 too close

By Alexis Stockford September 10, 2020

My father doesn’t waterski much anymore, although I remember him as an avid skier when I was younger. I remember watching him cut the wake on the slalom, on the wakeboard, and even turning the occasional 180 on the trick skis. Nowadays, though, inviting him to take a turn behind the boat is more likely

“Eventually, sooner rather than later, we’d really like to see a positive income.” Rick Bergmann, Canadian Pork Council.

Hogs, News

Backlog prevention costs pork producers

H@ms Marketing and the Manitoba Pork Council say they’re floating the idea of AgriRecovery, but don’t give much hope that government will pay out

By Geralyn Wichers September 10, 2020

Aggressive marketing appears to have kept independent hog producers from backing up despite COVID-19 cases piling up at Maple Leaf Foods in Brandon. Contingency measures have come with a cost, however, and those costs have hog sector leaders eyeing potential AgriRecovery funds. Why it matters: Pork tanked earlier this year due to a glut of

Karen Klassen and her father, George, farm near Manitou, Man.

Farmit Manitoba, Other

Group calls for climate-resilient ag in COVID-19 recovery

Farmers faced a ‘double whammy’ of extreme weather and the pandemic this year, according to the group Farmers for Climate Solutions

By Geralyn Wichers September 7, 2020

Farmers for Climate Solutions is calling for the federal government to back financial incentives for climate-friendly farming practices as part of its COVID-19 response. “We think that new investments through this economic recovery plan must also prioritize climate resilience so it’s lasting,” said the coalition’s director, Karen Ross. This year, she added, farmers have faced

The union representing workers at Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant continues to call for it to be temporarily closed due to staff COVID-19 cases.

News

Workers say Maple Leaf, province overlooking safety hazards

Workers tell the Co-operator of crowded bathrooms, locker rooms, stairways, cafeterias without handwashing facilities, forced overtime

By Geralyn Wichers September 5, 2020

Workers at Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant say the company isn’t doing enough to keep them safe, and that they’re scared to come to work. “We workers are crying for help,” they wrote in an open letter circulated by Migrante Manitoba, an advocacy organization for migrant workers in late August. “It’s clear to us that

Editorial, Op/Ed

Editorial: Surplus food purchases symbolic of broader discussion

By Laura Rance-Unger September 4, 2020

On the surface, the $50-million Surplus Food Rescue Program recently launched by the federal government is simply a sensible response to highly unusual circumstances. The government is buying up surplus fruits, vegetables, meat, fish and seafood from farmers and fishers who would normally supply the foodservice sector and distributing it to Canadians suffering from food

Adam Gurr (l) and Stephen Vajdik of AgriTruth Research farm just outside Brandon, currently Manitoba’s biggest COVID-19 hot spot.

News

Rural COVID-19 on rise as harvest heats up

Harvest underway in the west, albeit with  a few more steps due to COVID-19 restrictions

By Geralyn Wichers September 4, 2020

Manitoba’s resurgent cases have taken a turn for the rural, just in time for harvest

It’s not hard to socially distance when you’re alone in a combine. Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Bill Campbell said he’d been “voluntarily self-isolating” on his farm near Minto — and by that, he meant he’s been stuck inside a swather, combine or tractor. As harvest has kicked into high gear across the province, the

Beef cattle, Livestock, Markets

Saskatchewan extends WLPIP premium rebate if needed

Rebate to offset premium prices, if above pre-COVID levels

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News September 3, 2020

Saskatchewan’s temporary subsidy against price jumps in premiums for the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP) will continue when needed to the end of 2020. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. (SCIC), which administers the program in that province, announced Tuesday the WLPIP premium rebate is extended to Dec. 31, from its previous end date of Sept.

Daily Network News

New strategies needed for Canadian agriculture to stand out in global trade

Feed Grains Weekly: Cash prices for wheat, barley largely flat

The Canadian GMO mustard wars: Dijon vs canola

Tag Archives COVID-19