(INTLFCStone.com via YouTube)

Commodities firm INTL FCStone enters Canadian market

Already handling ag commodities via partners north of the border, U.S. commodities brokerage and financial services firm INTL FCStone is bringing its own name into the Canadian market. The New York firm announced Tuesday it became a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) effective May 17, clearing the company to offer […] Read more


Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Parliamentary Ag Secretary Jean-Claude Poissant, at right, visited the Carrefour Alimentaire Centre-Sud in Montreal on June 17, 2019 to formally launch the federal Food Policy for Canada. (Photo courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Federal food policy aims to lift local and Canadian-grown products

Federal programs to boost the profile of domestic and locally grown foods at home while reducing food waste, food insecurity and deceptive food marketing are all up for funding under the government’s new Food Policy for Canada. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Parliamentary Ag Secretary Jean-Claude Poissant announced the new policy Monday in Montreal, following […] Read more

The grocery department at a Northern store in Waskaganish, on James Bay in northern Quebec. (Northmart.ca via YouTube)

Ag minister announces launch of Canadian food policy

Canada has its first food policy, an initiative to increase access to safe, nutritious and culturally diverse food, and to cut food waste. Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of agriculture and agri-food and parliamentary secretary, Jean-Claude Poissant made the announcement Monday in Montreal. “The Food Policy for Canada is our road map for a healthier and more […] Read more


(AWSeebaran/iStock/Getty Images)

Senior P.E.I. ag official to fill deputy minister post

The post of top bureaucrat in Prince Edward Island’s agriculture department now has its third occupant in as many months. Premier Dennis King on June 7 named Brian Matheson, previously director of policy and agriculture resources at the agriculture and land department, as its acting deputy minister, replacing Laurie Loane. Loane, who’d been named deputy […] Read more

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Cannabis edibles clear for legal launch before year-end

Food products containing cannabis are expected to be on the retail market by mid-December at the earliest under new federal regulations announced Friday. Health Canada on Friday announced amendments to the Cannabis Regulations will be published June 26 to come into force Oct. 17, laying out rules for legal production and sale of edible cannabis, […] Read more


A federal ban on plastic bags won’t extend to bags such as these, shown here at a recycling depot, stewardship group Cleanfarms says. (CNW Group/Cleanfarms photo)

Agricultural plastics not part of federal ban

The federal government’s plan to halt Canada’s consumption of single-use plastics such as shopping bags, straws and stir sticks over the next couple of years won’t extend to farm chemical containers and grain bags. Cleanfarms, the national industry stewardship body operating waste management and recycling programs for agricultural packaging, said Thursday that plastic products such […] Read more

Agricorp’s map of planting areas. (Agricorp.com)

Ontario extends corn, soy, bean planting deadlines

Waterlogged Ontario farmers still waiting on a window to plant corn, soybeans and coloured and white beans ahead of crop insurance deadlines now have at least a couple of extra days. Agricorp, the province’s production insurance and farm program delivery agency, announced extensions Friday for several of its planting deadlines. Corn growers in areas A, […] Read more


Parrish and Heimbecker’s current elevator at Dutton Siding, west of Gilbert Plains, Man. (ParrishAndHeimbecker.com)

P+H plans new elevator east of Winnipeg

Grain company Parrish and Heimbecker is set to put up one of the easternmost primary grain elevators in Western Canada, not far from one of its existing sites. The privately held Winnipeg company announced Friday it will start construction this month on a 25,000-tonne capacity grain elevator on Canadian National Railway track at Dugald, Man., […] Read more

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CCGA now accepting upgraded cash advance applications

Farmers can start applying for the new, higher cash advances from the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA), starting Friday (June 7). “It’s three days earlier than we planned, but our team has been working very hard, along with program officials, to get this enhanced service in the hands of the hundreds of farmers who have […] Read more