Retaliating in a dispute with what they call a “growers’ cartel,” two of Ontario’s major commercial tomato processors say they won’t contract with tomato seedling producers for this spring’s crop. Sun-Brite Foods and Highbury Canco, which describe themselves as two of the three biggest tomato processors in the province, said Wednesday their cutback in orders […] Read more

Ontario tomato processors cancel orders for spring

Major Deere dealer sheds stake in Prairie chain
Canada’s biggest Deere dealership group has sold its minority stake in a Prairie dealership chain back to the chain’s majority owners. Calgary-based Cervus Equipment Corp. said Wednesday it has sold its 21.449 per cent of Maple Farms Partnership, owner of the Maple Farm Equipment chain of Deere farm equipment dealerships, back to Maple for about […] Read more

Quarantines added in bovine TB probe
Federal inspectors’ search for animals exposed to one of six Alberta cattle confirmed with bovine tuberculosis (TB) has led them to quarantine more farm sites for testing. As of Wednesday, “approximately 50” farm sites, mostly in southeastern Alberta with “approximately five” in southwestern Saskatchewan, are under quarantine and movement controls, affecting about 26,000 animals, the […] Read more

National EFP being considered
News Roundup from the December 2016 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Is a National Environmental Farm Plan achievable? Representatives from all provincial EFP programs and major commodity groups attending the National Environmental Farm Plan Summit to discuss the possibilities believe that where there is a will there is a way. The November summit in Ottawa closed with strong willingness to move ahead and the Canadian Federation […] Read more

Syngenta, DuPont patent new herbicide chemistry class
The crop chemical arms of DuPont and Syngenta are working together on a new class of herbicide chemistry they’ve jointly patented and taken to the “pre-development” stage. DuPont Crop Protection and Syngenta announced Monday they’ve published a joint patent, titled “Substituted cyclic amides and their use as herbicides,” and expect to launch herbicides based on […] Read more
Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame inductees in 2017
Newsmakers from the December 2016 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Cattlemen Tim Oleksyn and George Cooper, and grain producer Art Mainil will be inducted into the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2017. Tim Oleksyn, a rancher and farmer from Shellbrook, has been a supporter of beef research for decades. He has been a board member and chair of the Western Beef Development Centre and […] Read more

Duration limit lifted from foreign worker program
Canadian farm groups are among the sectors hailing Ottawa’s decision to axe the cumulative duration rule, or “four-in, four-out” policy, which stood to sideline temporary foreign workers from the Canadian market. The federal government announced last Tuesday (Dec. 13) it would lift the restriction, effective immediately. The cumulative duration rule had been in place in […] Read more

Major dairy farm gets six-figure fines in cruelty case
British Columbia’s largest dairy farm has been slapped with a reported $300,000 in fines after entering guilty pleas to charges of animal cruelty, stemming from covert video shot in 2014. Chilliwack Cattle Sales (CCS) and co-owner Wesley Kooyman were convicted Friday in Provincial Court over violations of the province’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. […] Read more

Dan Aykroyd’s winemaker raises funds for expansion
The Niagara-area maker of actor Dan Aykroyd’s wine line is set to sell up to $8.8 million in shares to expand its main wine production site. Diamond Estates Wines and Spirits on Dec. 2 announced an agreement with Paradigm Capital and GMP Securities to sell up to 22.73 million common shares at 22 cents per […] Read more

A year of firsts for ALUS
A celebration at Toronto’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in recognition of the W. Garfield Weston Foundation’s $5 million contribution to the ALUS (alternative land use services) program in support of conservation and agriculture across Canada marked the formal relaunch of ALUS as “ALUS Canada – a Weston Family Initiative,” and the debut of the New […] Read more