File photo of a P.E.I. potato field against the backdrop of the Confederation Bridge. (Onepony/iStock/Getty Images)

P.E.I. table stock potato exports to U.S. now allowed

New U.S. order replaces previous requirements; seed potatoes still blocked

Exports of Prince Edward Island table stock potatoes are again officially allowed to enter the mainland United States, after new U.S. entry rules regarding potato wart were published Friday. Canada’s federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said on Twitter that officials with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are now preparing to certify exports of eligible […] Read more

Most of the car wheelsets from the 2019 derailment were recovered for “further examination and testing,” the Transportation Safety Board said. (TSB photo)

CP disputes TSB’s conclusions on fatal grain train crash

Safety board urges automatic parking brakes, 'enhanced' brake testing for conditions

The federal Transportation Safety Board’s report into the fatal derailment of a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) grain train in the Rocky Mountains in 2019 calls for changes to train braking systems and maintenance. CP, however, is questioning the TSB’s conclusions about the braking performance of the train involved, saying those conclusions are “based on inappropriate […] Read more


Turkeys. (Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Third Ontario poultry flock hit by avian flu

Backyard flock with 'increased mortality' also being tested; cases now also in four U.S. border states

A third poultry flock in southwestern Ontario has been confirmed with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza — with another backyard flock now being tested, and the disease also now present in four U.S. border states. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Wednesday announced it had confirmed the presence of high-path H5N1 in a poultry […] Read more

Turkeys. (Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Second southwestern Ontario farm hit with avian flu

Separate H5N1 strains hit separate turkey farms

A second turkey operation in southwestern Ontario has been confirmed and quarantined with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza — but of a strain separate from the one seen in an outbreak in the same region a day earlier. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a statement Monday its National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease […] Read more


File photo of a U.S. veterinary medical officer examining tissue samples for avian influenza virus. (Suzanne Deblois photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

High-path avian flu drops into southwestern Ontario

H5N1 confirmed on poultry farm

Ontario’s feather sector is moving to a “heightened biosecurity advisory” after highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed this weekend in a poultry flock. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday it had confirmed high-path H5N1 in a flock in southern Ontario, a day after the Ontario Feather Board Command Centre (FBCC) published a report of […] Read more

Insulators for electric fencing will be a black-and-white PST-exempt expense for ranchers in Saskatchewan starting April 1, 2022. (Gallagher.com)

Saskatchewan clarifying certain on-farm PST exemptions

More items to be specified as exempt in tax regulations

Saskatchewan farmers’ and ranchers’ concerns about some inconsistencies in how and when provincial sales tax is applied to purchases of on-farm equipment will be dealt with in a revised list effective late next week. The province said Wednesday in a budget release that a “number of clarifications” will be made to its Provincial Sales Tax […] Read more


Federal Conservative ag critic and Alberta MP John Barlow speaks with P.E.I. potato grower Alex Docherty (r) in a March 18, 2022 photo. (John Barlow photo via Facebook)

Mainland U.S. moving to resume P.E.I. potato imports

P.E.I. growers get 'certainty' for spring planting, Bibeau says

Exports of fresh potatoes from Prince Edward Island to the mainland U.S. are expected to resume “soon” as U.S. officials move to put new rules in place for such shipments. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said Thursday that Canada “is expected to soon resume exporting (P.E.I.) table stock […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Saskatchewan budget aims to spur ag investment

Potash, crude oil resource revenues help cut deficit

Sweetening existing tax credits on big-ticket investments, and setting up a new Crown corporation to support Indigenous investors, are among the items expected to help encourage new value-added ag projects in Saskatchewan’s latest budget. Provincial Finance Minister Donna Harpauer on Wednesday released her 2022-23 budget with $17.6 billion in expenditures on $17.2 billion in revenues, […] Read more


(CPR.ca)

CP service to resume as dispute goes to arbitration

Engineers, conductors to return to work Tuesday noon

Engineers, conductors and train and yard service staff at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) will return to work by noon local time Tuesday as their labour dispute goes to arbitration. Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, attending labour talks between CP and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) in Calgary, announced Tuesday morning that the parties “have […] Read more

CCA president Bob Lowe speaks at a press conference in Ottawa on March 21, 2022, calling for federal back-to-work legislation to end a work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Railway. (CPAC video screengrab via YouTube)

Ag industry groups seek legislated end to CP stoppage

Feed, fertilizer traffic already way behind, groups say

Warning they don’t have time to wait on negotiation, representatives for cattle feeders, fertilizer producers and grain growers took to Parliament Hill on Monday to press for the federal government to instead legislate Canadian Pacific Railway’s engineers and conductors back to work. Traffic halted on CP lines just after midnight ET Sunday morning as the […] Read more