NDP ag critic Alistair MacGregor speaks Feb. 3, 2023 in the House of Commons. (Alistair MacGregor video screengrab via Facebook)

Federal NDP ag critic to handle food inflation file

Mini-shuffle follows new critic portfolio

Canada’s federal New Democrats have appointed their critic for agriculture and agri-food to a new point position on a major issue for the fourth-ranked opposition party. After the House of Commons resumed sitting last Monday (Jan. 30), NDP leader Jagmeet Singh on Friday named Alistair MacGregor, MP for the Vancouver Island riding of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, to […] Read more

(TourEiffel.ca)

Olymel to shut two pork processing plants

Triomphe ham, deli meat plants to close in late April

Meat packer Olymel is set to close a chapter in its acquisition history when it shuts down two Montreal-area pork further-processing plants it bought five years ago. Olymel, a division of ag co-operative Sollio, announced Wednesday it will close the former Aliments Triomphe plant at Blainville and its sister plant about 18 km southeast at […] Read more


Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA’s logo on a tower in Jundiai, northwest of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil, on June 1, 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Paulo Whitaker)

Beef consumption to rise in China, JBS predicts

China seen as more competitive in domestic chicken, pork markets

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 […] Read more

(Lauri Patterson/E+/Getty Images)

U.S. seeks new dispute panel over Canadian dairy imports

Panel would be second on matter since CUSMA took effect

Washington | Reuters — The United States on Tuesday said it was seeking a second trade dispute settlement panel over Canada’s dairy import quotas, charging that Canada was still not meeting obligations to open its market to U.S. producers. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said it was challenging Canada’s revised tariff-rate quota (TRQ) allocations that […] Read more


File photo of a provincial border marker in Lloydminster. (Michele Gervais/iStock/Getty Images)

Borderline city hosts interprovincial food trade pilot

Trade barrier on pause for two years for food businesses serving Lloydminster

The idea of loosening interprovincial trade in certain foods made by provincially-inspected processors will get a major test in one of Canada’s very few province-crossing municipalities. The Saskatchewan, Alberta and federal governments on Jan. 19 announced the start of a two-year pilot project within the limits of Lloydminster, a city of over 31,000 people straddling […] Read more

(Montpak.ca)

Préval closes deal for Alberta lamb processor, feedlot

Quebec firm picks up defunct NALCO's Alberta assets

Quebec agrifood firm Préval Ag has wrapped up its deal to buy the Alberta processing and production assets of the defunct North American Lamb Co., marking Préval’s first move into the lamb sector outside its home province. As per Alberta Farmer’s report last week, Préval confirmed Monday its divisions Westfine Meats and West Excelamb are […] Read more


Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari speaks at the Dakar summit under the theme “Nourrir l’Afrique” (Feed Africa) hosted by the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission on Jan. 25, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Ngouda Dione)

Development partners commit US$30 billion to food production in Africa

Continent facing record-level hunger

Dakar | Reuters — Development partners have committed US$30 billion to boost food production in Africa over the next five years, the president of the African Development Bank said on Friday at the close of a summit on food security on the continent. The continent is facing its worst food crisis ever, with more than […] Read more

File photo of a pedestrian crossing in front of the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on Dec. 9, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse)

U.S. wants WTO dispute system fixed by 2024

Appeals body frozen since Trump era; Washington 'very committed' to reform

Geneva | Reuters — The United States is entering a third phase of talks with countries to reform the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) hobbled trade dispute arbitration system and aims for it to be “fully functioning” by the end of 2024, the U.S. ambassador to the WTO told Reuters on Thursday. The WTO’s appeals bench, […] Read more


Siddika Mithani — shown here in an illustration from a series of “superhero trading cards” published in 2022 featuring CFIA researchers and staff — has retired from her post as CFIA president. (CFIA via Twitter)

CFIA president retires

NFU calls for next agency boss to prevent 'regulatory capture'

Canada’s federal regulator for the food and animal and plant health sectors is in the market for a new president following the incumbent’s retirement. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed its president, Dr. Siddika Mithani, has retired from the federal public service effective Jan. 20. Mithani has led CFIA since February 2019, having served […] Read more

File photo of a combine at work during a harvest in Germany. (Abadonian/iStock/Getty Images)

Germany considering withdrawal from crop-based biofuels by 2030

Lawmakers seek to boost biofuel made from wastes

Hamburg | Reuters — Germany’s government is considering proposals to phase out the use of biofuels produced from food or animal feed crops by 2030, the German biofuels industry association (VDB) said on Tuesday, adding the measure could increase carbon emissions. German environment minister Steffi Lemke said Jan. 17 she will soon send proposals to […] Read more