Agropur to shut Montreal-area milk plant

Quebec dairy co-operative Agropur plans to shut a Montreal-area fluid milk processing plant which it says has aged out of service. The company said Tuesday it will close its milk plant in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, which today employs 67 full-time and 27 “temporary” staff, by late May next year. “Considering the age and condition of the building […] Read more

(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Pitting supply management against U.S. subsidies seen as ‘unfair’

CNS Canada — How will Canada’s supply management system stack up against America’s domestic supports if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) comes to fruition? It’s a question that hasn’t been answered, say some experts from Canada’s farming institutions. “It would be completely unfair if we have to compete with lower prices, because those lower prices are […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Dairy farmers worry Trans-Pacific trade deal could hurt

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s powerful dairy industry on Friday expressed concern it could suffer if talks to create a Pacific trade treaty open up heavily protected Canadian markets to more foreign competition. Some of the 12 nations taking part in negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) want Canada to start dismantling a system known […] Read more



(VealFarm.com)

Quebec to halt ASRA for veal sector

Quebec’s farm finance and funding agency plans to remove the veal sector from the province’s ASRA income stabilization program starting next year. La Financiere agricole du Quebec (FADQ) announced Friday that its board had agreed to end ASRA (Assurance stabilisation des revenus agricoles) coverage for Quebec’s milk-fed veal calf operations, effective Jan. 1, 2016. Affected producers, after that […] Read more

(Todd Rosenberg photo via KraftFoodsGroup.com)

Canadian, U.S. regulators clear Heinz and Kraft merger

Antitrust regulators in both Canada and the U.S. have fixed their seals of official inaction on ketchup giant H.J. Heinz’s play for control of Kraft Foods Group. Canada’s Competition Bureau has confirmed that it wrapped its review of the proposed deal and issued its “no action” letter to the companies on Wednesday. A “no action” […] Read more


Quebec Agriculture Minister Pierre Paradis. (MAPAQ.gouv.qc.ca)

Quebec plans new legal status for animals

Quebec’s agriculture minister has tabled a new provincial government bill to raise the legal status of domestic and farmed animals in the province beyond that of “furniture.” Pierre Paradis on Friday introduced Bill 54 in the provincial assembly, with the stated goal of enshrining animals in Quebec’s Civil Code as sentient beings — that is, feeling and […] Read more



(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Supply-managed sectors bolster defenses against TPP

Reuters — Canadian farmers are stepping up their campaign against a nearly complete Pacific trade pact they fear will destroy protections for local dairy, egg and chicken producers and endanger jobs. Farmers in Quebec, which produces 40 per cent of Canada’s dairy products, ran full-page newspaper advertisements on Tuesday warning Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations threaten […] Read more