File photo of a Conagra production facility at Oakdale, Calif., about 150 km east of San Francisco, on Dec, 18, 2015. (Photo: Reuters/Fred Greaves)

Food retail order boom may ease after big quarter, Conagra says

Reuters — Conagra Brands put better-than-expected first quarter sales on Thursday down to heavy ordering by retailers worried about the durability of supply chains in the months ahead as a second wave of coronavirus cases takes hold. Shares in the foodstuffs maker dipped as much as three per cent before recovering after chief financial officer

Canadian ginseng, whose shipments to Hong Kong have plummeted since COVID-19 infections peaked in Canada this spring and travel restrictions took effect, is seen in southwestern Ontario’s Norfolk County in this undated photograph. (Handout photo courtesy Helen Mels via Reuters)

Ginseng piling up in Canada despite Chinese demand

Travel restrictions depress new-crop sales

Winnipeg/Hong Kong | Reuters — The pandemic’s crushing effect on international travel has grounded Canadian exports of ginseng, a root widely used in Asia to treat everything from the common cold to impotency, at a time when health is top of consumers’ minds. Canada is the world’s second-largest ginseng exporter after China, with most of


Roquette’s plant-based protein products include Nutralys T70S, billed as a plant-based, texturized protein that “guarantees a unique fibrous texture and great use adaptable to several types of meat substitute” such as burger patties, chicken-type filets and sausage. (Roquette.com)

Plant-based protein maker Roquette sees short-term COVID-19 impact

Demand could accelerate second Canadian plant

Paris | Reuters — The plant-based protein market has seen a slowdown in new product launches and lower sales in restaurants and cafeterias due to COVID-19 but benefited from more people cooking at home and trying new products, French manufacturer Roquette said. The market for plant-based protein such as meat-free burgers has surged in the

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.

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

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: Surplus food purchases symbolic of broader discussion

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.

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

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


(SCIC.ca)

Saskatchewan extends WLPIP premium rebate if needed

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

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.

ag ex

Fairs seek federal support after COVID-19 cancellations

Both Ag Ex and Ag Days have announced they're cancelling

EVENTS This month, Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba’s Ag Ex and Manitoba Ag Days announced their upcoming shows were cancelled

An organization representing fairs, exhibitions and ag societies is asking the Canadian government for $74 million to keep 743 shows afloat after many, including Brandon’s Ag Ex, cancelled over COVID-19 concerns. “The bulk of us have one shot to generate the majority of our revenue every year for the next 365 days and we’ve lost


Workers ‘crying for help’ at Brandon Maple Leaf plant

Workers ‘crying for help’ at Brandon Maple Leaf plant

In an open letter, workers say the province and company are discriminating against immigrant workers by shuffling blame onto them

Workers at Brandon’s Maple Leaf Foods plant say the company and provincial government are passing the blame onto them for spreading COVID-19 in the facility. “We workers are crying for help,” they wrote in an open letter, circulated Monday by Migrante Manitoba, an advocacy group for migrants in the province. The province has repeatedly said

Photo: iStock

New ag policy needed to accommodate drastic changes

Latest policy note says policies of yesterday won’t work for today and tomorrow

Drastic changes in and outside Canada should prompt a new agri-food policy, according to a new report from industry experts. Agri-Food Economic Systems’ latest policy note identified 10 pressures on the industry in Canada today, each one varying in “magnitude, significance, urgency and permanence.” The report cites the majority loss of the food-service market due