Regina pulse processor AGT Foods plans to bulk up its portfolio in the plant-based ingredients business with a new oat milling operation in central Saskatchewan. The company on Thursday announced it would start construction “immediately” on the new operation, to be housed in an expansion of its existing processing plant just east of Aberdeen, about […] Read more
AGT building oat milling plant in Saskatchewan
JBS to help fund home purchases for Brooks staff
Company offering zero-interest loans for down payments
One of the biggest beef packers operating in Canada is pledging $1.7 million for a one-year pilot program to help employees buy or upgrade homes. JBS Foods Canada, which operates Brazilian meat packer JBS’s plant at Brooks, Alta., on Tuesday announced the launch of what it calls the “Homebuyer Dream Fund,” providing zero-interest loans to […] Read more
CP conductors vote in favour of mid-March strike action
Unionized conductors and train and yard service staff with Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) have voted in favour of strike action which could begin as early as March 16. The Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference – Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY) announced Monday that a strike vote it conducted through February went 96.7 per cent in favour […] Read more
Ag equipment firm Buhler Industries shakes up board table
Rostselmash's Babkin steps down, founder Buhler to retire
Board oversight of Winnipeg farm equipment manufacturer Buhler Industries will now include another of the company’s upper managers, as a co-owner of the company’s Russian parent firm and the company’s founder both step down. Buhler’s board announced Wednesday it has accepted the resignation of Konstantin Babkin, the president and co-owner of Russian holding company Novoe […] Read more
Saskatchewan forage rainfall insurance to adjust for hot spells
SCIC also expanding crop roster for contract price option
Saskatchewan forage and corn growers whose crops are insured against below-normal rainfall can expect a beneficial bump starting this year if those crops get cooked in high heat. The Saskatchewan and federal governments on Tuesday announced details for their 2022 crop insurance program — under which average coverage is expected to reach $405 per acre, […] Read more
Two Saskatchewan co-ops to buy ag input retailer
Paragon Ag Service assets to be divvied up
A pair of Saskatchewan co-operatives are expanding their reach in the crop input retail sector in that province’s northeast, with a deal to buy an independent dealership chain. Lake Country Co-op and Prairie North Co-op announced Tuesday they have agreements in place to buy the assets of Melfort-based Paragon Ag Service from owners Sherman Boland […] Read more
Richardson crush plant staff ward off strike vote
Unionized staff at Lethbridge vote to ratify new contract
Unionized staff at Richardson International’s canola crush plant at Lethbridge have voted for six years’ labour peace rather than proceeding toward a strike vote. The 140-odd workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401, voted Feb. 1-2 on a new proposal from the company after voting 79 per cent in December to […] Read more
Manitoba border blockade expected to end Wednesday
'Resolution' reached, Mounties say
Another protest blockade of a key Canada-U.S. trade corridor is expected to wrap up by Wednesday. Manitoba RCMP on Tuesday reported they “are now confident that a resolution has been reached” with protestors who, since Thursday, have blockaded Highway 75 leading to the border crossing at Emerson, Man., about 100 km south of Winnipeg. The […] Read more
Alberta border blockade expected to disperse Tuesday
Decision comes amid arrests, reported violence at blockade
Amid reports of violence involving a farm tractor and trucks — and seizures of weapons — the protest blockade that shut Alberta’s busiest U.S. trade corridor is reported to be winding down starting Tuesday. Several media outlets on Monday quoted organizers of the blockade at the Canada-U.S. border crossing at Coutts, Alta. as saying they […] Read more
Link broken in glyphosate supply chain, Bayer says
Company provides heads-up on 'force majeure event'
No one is yet using the word ‘shortage’ but farmers may need to get ready for less Roundup temporarily, following a “force majeure” event at a plant supplying an ingredient in the recipe for glyphosate. Bayer, the chemical company whose Roundup brand remains the best known of the glyphosate herbicides, reported as much in an […] Read more