Beyond Meat’s ‘latest iteration’ of its Beyond Burger gets to carry a Made in Canada label. (Photo courtesy Beyond Meat via Globe Newswire)

Beyond Meat lines up Canadian patty co-packer

U.S. company launches 'latest iteration' of burger line

One of the names tied closest to the plant protein-based meat substitute sector has enlisted an unnamed Quebec operation to make its beef-similar patties for the Canadian retail market. Los Angeles-based Beyond Meat on Wednesday launched the “latest iteration” of its flagship Beyond Burger, billed as “produced locally at a co-manufacturing facility in Canada” and […] Read more

(BriggsandStratton.com)

Briggs + Stratton filing for reorganization, courting buyers

Stalking-horse deal in place with private equity firm

U.S. outdoor power equipment maker Briggs + Stratton has locked in a stalking-horse buyer for its assets as it seeks a court-supervised reorganization. The Milwaukee-based company announced Monday it has a stock and asset purchase agreement in place with New York private equity firm KPS Capital Partners, best known as an investor in manufacturing companies. […] Read more


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 […] Read more

(Maple Leaf Foods photo via Facebook)

Quebec packer buying Maple Leaf chicken plant

Avicomax's supply agreements with farmers remain

A family-owned Quebec poultry packer specializing in antibiotic-free and organic chicken is set to buy a Maple Leaf Foods facility in the same line of work. Volaille Giannone, which operates a poultry slaughter and packing plant at St-Cuthbert, about 65 km southwest of Trois-Rivieres, announced Thursday it has a deal in place to buy Maple […] Read more


(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 […] Read more

(TopconPositioning.com)

Brandt closes GeoShack deal, locks up Topcon sales in Canada

Tractor company revives Ontario deal

A deal to make Brandt Tractor the exclusive dealer for Topcon geopositioning equipment clear across Canada has been resuscitated. Regina-based Brandt announced Tuesday it has closed its previously-announced deal to buy the assets of GeoShack Canada — two weeks after Dallas-based GeoShack declared that “a mutually beneficial deal… has not been attained.” GeoShack has been […] Read more


One of the centrepieces of Burger King’s #CowsMenu campaign is a video directed by Michel Gondry featuring U.S. singer and yodeler Mason Ramsey. (Burger King video screengrab via YouTube)

U.S. beef ranchers sour on Burger King lemongrass ration

RBI arm launches '#CowsMenu' program, 'Reduced Methane' Whopper

A new U.S. sustainability campaign from one of the world’s biggest fast food chains, training its lens on beef cattle passing gas, has “disappointed” some cattle producers while also proposing its own new feedlot ration as a way to help cut emissions. Burger King, owned by Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International, on Tuesday launched the “#CowsMenu” […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Prairie livestock vet named B.C.’s chief veterinarian

Rayna Gunvaldsen replaces Jane Pritchard

A Saskatchewan vet with a resume in emergency preparedness and managing livestock disease outbreaks has been named British Columbia’s new chief veterinarian. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham announced Rayna Gunvaldsen’s appointment Friday, replacing Jane Pritchard. Gunvaldsen trained at the University of Saskatchewan with an emphasis on herd health and regulatory medicine, worked as a herd health […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Beef Breeds Council becomes arm of CCA

Cattle genetics body now a division of Canadian Cattlemen's Association

The market development group representing Canada’s beef cattle seedstock sector has formally merged into the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). The association on Friday announced the Canadian Beef Breeds Council (CBBC) has officially joined the Beef Cattle Research Council and Canfax among the divisions of the CCA. The move follows a cost-benefit review by an advisory […] Read more

(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario to insure for crop loss due to lack of labour

AgriInsurance offering hailed as a first in Canada

Ontario’s federal/provincial AgriInsurance program has been temporarily expanded to include coronavirus-related labour shortages as a covered cause for crop loss. Producers already enrolled in an eligible production insurance plan and hit by crop losses due to labour disruptions during the 2020 growing season will be able to get further insurance coverage, the Ontario and federal […] Read more