Pandemic Archives - Manitoba Co-operator

U.S. food companies go deal hunting as pandemic growth fades

Twinkies maker Hostess exploring a sale

By Deborah Mary Sophia, GFM Network News September 9, 2023

Reuters — U.S. packaged food companies are set for a flurry of deals in a push to revamp their brand portfolios as their pandemic-era fortunes fade and benefits of price hikes start to taper off. Last month, Campbell Soup struck a $2.7 billion deal for Rao’s sauce maker Sovos Brands (all figures US$). Unilever bought

File photo of chicks on a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Livestock

Scientists isolate human gene able to fend off most bird flu viruses

Finding may show which bird flu strains have human pandemic potential

By GFM Network News June 28, 2023

London | Reuters — U.K. researchers have homed in on a human gene implicated in thwarting most bird flu viruses from infecting people. Bird flu chiefly spreads among wild birds such as ducks and gulls and can also infect farmed birds and domestic poultry such as chickens, turkeys and quails. Although the viruses largely affect

Beef cattle, Livestock, Markets

Beef consumption to rise in China, JBS predicts

China seen as more competitive in domestic chicken, pork markets

By GFM Network News, Roberto Samora February 1, 2023

Sao Paulo | Reuters — Demand for beef in China is expected to rise as the country still has relatively low per capita consumption, Gilberto Tomazoni, chief executive of JBS SA, said on Wednesday during a business conference. He said Brazil and the U.S., where JBS has meat facilities, are well positioned to meet China’s

Aerial applicator Calvin Murray says finding workers for his business  is a nightmare.

News

Farmers say no one wants to work. Experts say that’s not the case

Producers are struggling to find workers -- and so is everyone else

By Geralyn Wichers, James Snell August 25, 2022

Aerial field sprayers are the fighter pilots of industry, swooping low and fast while dropping chemical armaments over fields. They’re used to avoiding obstacles including power lines, trees, buildings and vehicles. But some are facing a new challenge — getting chemical delivered to the aircraft. Calvin Murray, founder of Early Bird Air near Strathmore, Alta.,

Internally displaced Ethiopians queue to receive food aid in the Higlo camp for people displaced by drought, at the town of Gode in Ethiopia’s Somali region on April 26, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Tiksa Negeri)

Crops, Other, Weather

Acute food insecurity now touching 345 million worldwide

By GFM Network News August 24, 2022

Baghdad | Reuters — The number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide has more than doubled to 345 million since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict and climate change, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday. Before the coronavirus crisis, 135 million suffered from acute hunger worldwide, Corinne Fleischer, the WFP’s regional

The minister is on the case: federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau checks out the cab of a new Case IH Magnum tractor during her visit to the Ag in Motion show on July 20, 2022. (Greg Berg photo)

Farmers, exhibitors hail Ag in Motion’s in-person return

Ag ministers check out event on Day 2

By GFM Network News, Glacier FarmMedia Staff July 21, 2022

Attendance numbers at the first live Ag in Motion in three years are an indication that demand for outdoor farm shows is as high as ever, show director Rob O’Connor says. O’Connor said he wasn’t sure what to expect after momentum building during the show’s first five years was quashed when the COVID-19 pandemic response

U.S. extends COVID vaccine requirements for non-citizens at land borders

U.S. agribusinesses still seeking exemptions for cross-border truckers

By David Shepardson, GFM Network News April 22, 2022

Washington | Reuters — The United States government said Thursday it’s extending a requirement that non-U.S. citizens crossing land or ferry terminals at the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders must be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The requirements were first adopted in November as part of reopening the United States to land crossings by foreign tourists after

CF Industries’ UAN plant at Donaldsonville in Louisiana. The company also makes UAN at plants in Ontario, Iowa and Oklahoma. (Thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com)

Crops

CF Industries warns of shipment delays via Union Pacific

By GFM Network News, Reuters April 14, 2022

Reuters — Fertilizer firm CF Industries on Thursday warned of delays in shipment of its nitrogen fertilizers, a week after Union Pacific mandated certain shippers to reduce the volume of private cars on its rails. The announcement of delay also comes a month after CF said it is increasing fertilizer shipments to both U.S. coasts

Workers in the JBS beef plant at Brooks, Alta. appear in a screen shot from a 2018 corporate video. (JBS Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

Changes to TFW program to expand worker availability

Workplace LMIAs now valid for 18 months

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News April 10, 2022

The federal government is boosting the availability of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to ag and other understaffed sectors under a list of policy changes announced Monday. Employment and Workforce Development Minister Carla Qualtrough announced what’s called the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program Workforce Solutions Road Map, which the government said “marks the next step in

NYMEX May 2022 West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

Markets

Fuel prices may remain high beyond Russian invasion, expert says

By Adam Peleshaty, GFM Network News March 22, 2022

MarketsFarm — The decision by the U.S. to halt the import of Russian petroleum products due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine created sticker shock at the pumps in North America — but an end to that invasion would not necessarily mean an end to high fuel prices. On March 15, the average price of

Daily Network News

U.S. livestock: Cattle slip back, hogs gain

U.S. grains: Soy futures post biggest monthly gain in nearly five years on China trade optimism

Farm gate milk price to rise in 2026

Tag Archives Pandemic