The Canadian business of Scottish soup and condiment maker Baxters Food Group is back in Canadian hands, including private, public and labour-sponsored Quebec investors. Provincial venture capital firm Investissement Quebec and labour-sponsored Fonds de solidarite FTQ and Fondaction announced Tuesday they would each put up $8 million, plus an unspecified amount from investors led by […] Read more

Soup maker Baxters sells Canadian arm

Olymel to pick up Ontario chicken processor Pinty’s
The meat packing arm of agrifood co-operative La Coop federee is set to boost its stakes in the Ontario packaged chicken and appetizer markets with a deal for Pinty’s Delicious Foods. Olymel announced Thursday it will buy Burlington, Ont.-based Pinty’s, including its three southern Ontario chicken slaughter and processing operations at Port Colborne, Paris and […] Read more

Transport agency orders Hudson Bay Railway to start repairs
The Canadian Transportation Agency has ordered the current owners of the Hudson Bay Railway to get repair work underway by July 3 at the latest. The CTA — the quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator for the Canadian transport sector — on Wednesday granted a request filed by an unnamed representative of Manitoba’s provincial opposition New Democrats […] Read more

Set your grazing strategy early
Grazing: News Roundup from the June 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Weather is unpredictable, so developing a grazing strategy for the rest of the season is an important tool. Beef, forage, and livestock specialists at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AF) recently offered some thoughts on the factors that producers should keep in mind when formulating a plan. “May and June are typically Alberta’s wetter months, so […] Read more
History: Cattle, Then and Now!
Reprinted from the March 1951 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Cattle, Then and Now! By Florence Gates, High Point, Sask. ”Twas in mid-November, 1907, that Les Giauque and Henry Kohnke left the Elbow, at the South Saskatchewan River, with a drive of as fine a herd of four-year-old steers as will be seen anywhere. Ninety-eight head of them there were, to be delivered to Duck […] Read more

Saputo to build new Vancouver-area processing plant
Canadian dairy giant Saputo plans on further “maximizing its manufacturing footprint” in Canada in the next few years, starting with a new $240 million Vancouver-area processing plant at Port Coquitlam. The “state-of-the-art” plant is expected to be built within the next three years and commissioned in fiscal 2021, the company said in its fiscal 2018 […] Read more

BSE class-action suit takes another step
Legal: News Roundup from the June 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
The BSE class-action lawsuit against the federal government launched on behalf of producers that was moving toward a possible trial date last fall is still moving through the courts. Duncan Boswell, a senior partner with Gowling WLG in Toronto, says an amended litigation plan was approved by the court on April 30 and offers hope […] Read more

Quebec ag minister won’t run again
With just under four months before the province’s next election, Quebec’s current minister of agriculture, food and fisheries won’t be in the running. Laurent Lessard ended weeks of speculation Friday when he announced he won’t seek a sixth term as the MNA for Lotbiniere-Frontenac. In a statement on Facebook, Lessard, 55, thanked his constituents for […] Read more

Ontario ag minister downed in Tories’ election win
The Ontario Liberals’ minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs is among the election-night casualties as the province’s Progressive Conservatives get set to form a majority government. As of midnight CT Friday, Doug Ford’s Tories were elected or leading in 76 of 124 ridings, followed by Andrea Horwath’s New Democrats in 40 and Kathleen Wynne’s […] Read more

Ontario to host plant for U.S. lactose-free milk maker
A lactose-free milk brand distributed by Coca-Cola will be produced at a new dairy processing plant to be built at Peterborough, Ont. by early 2020. The facility’s first product will be Fairlife Ultrafiltered Milk, a lactose-free product billed as providing 50 per cent more protein and 50 per cent less sugar than traditional milk. Canada […] Read more