Candian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks to journalists outside the U.S. Trade Representative’s office in Washington on Aug. 28. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Wattie)

Freeland to hold NAFTA talks Tuesday

Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will meet U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington on Tuesday for another round of talks to renew the NAFTA trade pact, an official said on Monday, as time runs short to seal a deal. Freeland spokesman Adam Austen did not give details. After more than […] Read more



It would be very difficult for the U.S. to maintain their healthy beef export market without an imported supply of cattle from Canada.

Here we go again

Tariff disputes with the U.S. are nothing new

For many years we have complacently assumed that American displeasure with Canada’s supply management regime for dairy and poultry production was an issue well isolated from other agricultural sectors. This perhaps was never the case, but it certainly is no longer. If the wayward and quixotic President Trump can slap punitive duties on steel and […] Read more

(Video screengrab from TalentsLaCoop.coop)

Coop federee buys into Ontario feed sector

Fresh off its recent investment in the Prairie livestock feed business, Quebec ag co-operative giant La Coop federee is headed down a similar path in southwestern Ontario. The co-operative announced Monday it will pay an undisclosed sum for a 50 per cent stake in W-S Feed and Supply, based at Tavistock, Ont., about 30 km […] Read more


(Haigwood Studios photo, InspireBrands.com)

Wendy’s sells stake in Arby’s owner

Reuters — Hamburger company Wendy’s Co. ended its decade-old ties with Arby’s as it sold its 12.3 per cent stake in the sandwich chain’s parent for US$450 million on Thursday, giving it a boost as it battles larger rivals McDonald’s and Burger King. Wendy’s will sell its stake to Inspire Brands, owned by Roark Capital, […] Read more

(Regis Lefebure photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures fall to new contract lows on heavy supplies

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures tumbled about 3 percent to fresh life-of-contract lows on Wednesday as cash hog and pork prices extended declines amid abundant supplies and worries of sagging demand, traders said. Most active October lean hog futures fell 1.575 cents to 48.400 cents per pound while front-month August […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Tim Hortons to enter China

Reuters — Canadian coffee-and-donut chain Tim Hortons will open 1,500 outlets in China over the next decade, capitalizing on a growing cafe culture in the world’s second-largest economy, the chain’s parent Restaurant Brands International said on Wednesday. Restaurant Brands shares rose almost three per cent after the company announced the Tim Hortons move into China […] Read more

Primo’s “Rustic Beef Barley” soup. (PrimoHeartySoups.ca)

Soup maker Baxters sells Canadian arm

The Canadian business of Scottish soup and condiment maker Baxters Food Group is back in Canadian hands, including private, public and labour-sponsored Quebec investors. Provincial venture capital firm Investissement Quebec and labour-sponsored Fonds de solidarite FTQ and Fondaction announced Tuesday they would each put up $8 million, plus an unspecified amount from investors led by […] Read more


(Pintys.com)

Olymel to pick up Ontario chicken processor Pinty’s

The meat packing arm of agrifood co-operative La Coop federee is set to boost its stakes in the Ontario packaged chicken and appetizer markets with a deal for Pinty’s Delicious Foods. Olymel announced Thursday it will buy Burlington, Ont.-based Pinty’s, including its three southern Ontario chicken slaughter and processing operations at Port Colborne, Paris and […] Read more

(MDurson/iStock/Getty Images)

EU backs plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance

Brussels | Reuters — EU member states backed a plan on Wednesday to combat antimicrobial resistance, an increasing global health issue, that would reduce the use of antibiotics in the food chain and limit certain drugs to humans. Antimicrobial resistance threatens the effectiveness of medicines such as antibiotics to treat infections in humans, as bacteria […] Read more