File photo of a quality control check on fresh peppers in a Canadian vegetable packing plant. (Jeffbergen/E+Getty Images)

Laid-off foreign workers may get conditional clearance for other jobs

Workers allowed to start new jobs while permits are processed

Approved temporary foreign workers (TFWs) whose jobs disappeared before they could begin work in Canada this spring can now get much quicker approval to start at other workplaces, including farms, where the workers are needed. The federal government said Tuesday it will, effective “immediately,” temporarily waive its rule requiring a TFW to receive federal approval



(Jiraroj Praditcharoenkul/iStock/Getty Images)

Agri-food tech expected to be a post-pandemic growth industry

Ag, food sectors may seek out more e-commerce, labour-saving tools

Ottawa — A researcher at the University of Guelph says the COVID-19 pandemic will spark agility – particularly related to technology – in agriculture. “(The pandemic) has re-emphasized the need to get access to some of the technology that exists in other sectors and are not easily accessible in agri-food systems,” said Rozita Dara, an



(Dave Bedard photo)

Adjustments likely ahead for StatsCan’s early acreage estimates

Projections still in line with grain trade's expectations

MarketsFarm — The results of the first acreage estimates for 2020 from Statistics Canada come with an asterisk, as the COVID-19 pandemic halted data collection early. Canada’s actual seeded area is expected to see some shifts from the projections released Thursday. “As a result of the timing of the COVID-19 pandemic, these estimates were produced

A soybean plot in a demonstration field at a past Ag in Motion.  Photo: Lisa Guenther

Ag in Motion outdoor farm show going online instead for 2020

Showrunners plan free 'Ag in Motion Discovery Plus' online event

Glacier FarmMedia’s summer farm show Ag in Motion is coming in from the outdoors to operate in cyberspace for 2020. The event — which was due to run July 21-23 at the Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm on Highway 16 west of Langham, Sask., about 40 km northwest of Saskatoon — has been rebranded for 2020


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Cargill’s High River plant reopens with two slaughter shifts

Cutting line to resume Wednesday

Cargill’s southern Alberta beef packing plant, estimated to be responsible for over a third of Canada’s beef processing capacity, restarted Monday after a two-week COVID-19-related shutdown — but at a quicker pace than previously expected. The company said in a statement Monday it is resuming operations at the High River plant “with two shifts” in

File photo of a New Brunswick blueberry field in autumn. (EdCorey/iStock/Getty Images)

New Brunswick ag groups rip province’s ban on foreign workers

Risk during pandemic 'simply too great,' premier says

New Brunswick farmers who employ temporary foreign workers (TFWs) are calling for the provincial government to reverse its new COVID-19-related ban on entry of TFWs who haven’t yet arrived. The provincial government on Tuesday updated a mandatory order under its pandemic state of emergency to restrict TFWs from entering the province. The new restriction doesn’t