Artist’s rendering of the Merit Functional Foods plant under construction in Winnipeg. (Merit Foods graphic)

Bunge buys into canola, pea protein maker Merit

Agribusiness giant takes quarter stake in processor

One of the world’s biggest grain companies is getting in on a processing facility under construction in Winnipeg to extract plant-based proteins from canola and peas. Winnipeg-based Merit Functional Foods announced Thursday it has received a $30 million “capital investment” from Bunge, giving the U.S. grain firm a “minority interest” worth 25 per cent. Burcon

Loveday mushrooms on a 2016 episode of TV cooking show “Great Tastes of Manitoba.” (Great Tastes of Manitoba video screengrab via YouTube)

U.S. mushroom giant buys major Manitoba grower

Loveday Mushroom Farms joins South Hill Champs

A major player in the North American mushroom business expects to expand its reach in the U.S. Midwest and Canada’s Prairies with a deal for a storied Winnipeg producer. South Mill Champs, formed in 2018 from the merger of Philadelphia-area producer South Mill and Aldergrove, B.C.-based Champs Mushrooms, announced Tuesday it has expanded to include


(FIle photo by Dave Bedard)

Viterra to build new elevator near Winnipeg

New Rosser terminal to have five times the capacity

Grain handler Viterra is set to replace a relatively small concrete elevator just northwest of Winnipeg with a new higher-throughput terminal. Glencore Agriculture’s Prairie grain arm said Thursday it will build a new high-throughput in the municipality of Rosser, Man., near the northwest corner of Winnipeg’s Perimeter Highway. The new site, connecting to Canadian Pacific

An artists’ rendition of the Merit Functional Foods plant under construction in Winnipeg. (Meritfoods.com)

Plant protein processor backed for expansion

Lenders arrange up to $85 million for Merit Functional Foods

The money has been lined up to fund a major expansion for a Winnipeg pea and canola protein processing plant that’s still being built. Merit Functional Foods Corp. announced May 4 it has secured a debt financing package of up to $85 million from “a syndicate of lenders” including Export Development Canada, Farm Credit Canada


Flooding along the Rat River near La Rochelle in southeastern Manitoba in 2020.

Red River crests in lower predicted range

Water levels were dropping as of April 22, and PTH 75 remained open

Water levels are dropping along the Red River, but the river is expected to be outside its banks into May, according to provincial reports. As of April 22, the Red River had crested at all points from Emerson to the floodway and was expected to crest shortly in Winnipeg. “This is good news,” said Infrastructure

Packaged chicken legs in store refrigerator.

Work to begin on Winnipeg food strategy

Food Matters Manitoba has been contracted to begin work on the food plan

Work is slated to begin on Winnipeg’s first food strategy with Food Matters Manitoba heading the effort. “Food Matters Manitoba has an excellent track record of deliver- ing programs and services in the community, and have been an essential partner in getting the Winnipeg Food Council off the ground,” said St. Vital councillor Brian Mayes,



Kubota’s current highest-horsepower line of tractors is the M7 line, manufactured in France. (Kubota.ca)

Buhler to build bigger Kubota tractors in Winnipeg

Kubota’s highest-horsepower tractors yet for the North American farm market are going to be made in Canada. Winnipeg manufacturer Buhler Industries, the maker of Versatile tractors, on Thursday announced a “long-term” original equipment manufacturer (OEM) deal with Japan’s Kubota Corp. to “develop and produce a new tractor platform in the mid-range front-wheel assist segment.” For


A CN train hauling grain cars circles the loop at GrainsConnect’s Maymont, Sask. loop-track/power-on terminal. The locomotive never has to be detached from the train when loading or unloading, which cuts the time it spends at an elevator by up to half compared to conventional grain terminals.

Don’t stop: Loop tracks set to revolutionize shipping

If you never decouple the locomotive, you never lose braking pressure – and that's huge

The loop-track/power-on grain terminals popping up throughout the Prairies are kind of like the marines — no rail car gets left behind. That’s one example of how these terminals improve efficiency in Canada’s grain transportation system, said Warren Stow, president of GrainsConnect Canada, whose company is currently building two such facilities in the Alberta communities

Field tour attendees dig into the soil structure at Borderland Agriculture during a summer field tour. Brooks and Jen White will represent Manitoba at Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers National Event next month.

Winnipeg to welcome rising stars of agriculture

Brooks and Jen White are getting ready to represent Manitoba at Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers national event in Winnipeg later this month

The nation’s Outstanding Young Farmers will go head to head in Winnipeg next month. Seven stand-out farm families between the ages of 18 and 39 will make an appearance at Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmer’s National Event at the end of November, hosted this year by the Manitoba region. Representatives from each western province, Ontario, Quebec