pandemic Archives | Canadian Cattlemen

Alberta gives oil and gas drillers municipal tax break

Reuters — Struggling oil and gas companies in Alberta will get a three-year break on municipal property taxes for land where they are drilling wells or building pipelines, the provincial government said on Monday. The Alberta government said it would also lower property tax assessments on less-productive wells and eliminate a provincial tax on drills. […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Finishers, Livestock, Markets

Manitoba cattle sector gets COVID-19 AgriRecovery

Program to help offset costs from 'extraordinary feed period'

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News 4 days ago

Manitoba cattle producers whose usual markets for finished cattle were temporarily out of reach this spring and summer may now be able to offset some of the resulting extra feed bills. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her Manitoba counterpart, Blaine Pedersen, on Thursday announced the 2020 Canada-Manitoba Finished Cattle Feed Assistance Program, an AgriRecovery […] Read more

General, Reuters, Weather

World Food Program seeking billions within six months to avert famine

Pandemic may double hunger worldwide, agency says

By Maytaal Angel, GFM Network News October 14, 2020

London | Reuters — The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will need to raise US$6.8 billion over the next six months to avert famine amid the COVID-19 crisis, the agency said on Tuesday. The WFP, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for its efforts to prevent the use of hunger as […] Read more

General, Machinery

Federal program to protect farms, workers from COVID-19 underway

'Highest-risk' farming operations to get priority, Bibeau says

By D.C. Fraser, GFM Network News October 5, 2020

Applications are now open for a federally-administered $35 million emergency on-farm support fund to help limit the impacts of COVID-19 on farms and on-farm workers. Aimed at farm workplaces and employee living quarters, the fund is being managed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), but cost-shared with participating producers at a 50-50 level. Money is […] Read more

General, Markets

Canada to keep U.S. border curbs until pandemic much less serious

By David Ljunggren, Steve Scherer, GFM Network News October 3, 2020

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will maintain restrictions on non-essential travel with the United States until the coronavirus outbreak in both nations is much less serious, a senior government official said on Friday. The comments by federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair suggest that the ban on non-essential travel could stay for months to come, […] Read more

Crops, Reuters

Food retail order boom may ease after big quarter, Conagra says

By Reuters, GFM Network News October 1, 2020

Reuters — Conagra Brands put better-than-expected first quarter sales on Thursday down to heavy ordering by retailers worried about the durability of supply chains in the months ahead as a second wave of coronavirus cases takes hold. Shares in the foodstuffs maker dipped as much as three per cent before recovering after chief financial officer […] Read more

Crops, Reuters

Ginseng piling up in Canada despite Chinese demand

Travel restrictions depress new-crop sales

By Farah Master, Rod Nickel, GFM Network News September 30, 2020

Winnipeg/Hong Kong | Reuters — The pandemic’s crushing effect on international travel has grounded Canadian exports of ginseng, a root widely used in Asia to treat everything from the common cold to impotency, at a time when health is top of consumers’ minds. Canada is the world’s second-largest ginseng exporter after China, with most of […] Read more

Crops, Markets, Peas, Reuters

Plant-based protein maker Roquette sees short-term COVID-19 impact

Demand could accelerate second Canadian plant

By Sybille de La Hamaide, GFM Network News September 30, 2020

Paris | Reuters — The plant-based protein market has seen a slowdown in new product launches and lower sales in restaurants and cafeterias due to COVID-19 but benefited from more people cooking at home and trying new products, French manufacturer Roquette said. The market for plant-based protein such as meat-free burgers has surged in the […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Livestock, Markets

Saskatchewan extends WLPIP premium rebate if needed

Rebate to offset premium prices, if above pre-COVID levels

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News September 3, 2020

Saskatchewan’s temporary subsidy against price jumps in premiums for the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP) will continue when needed to the end of 2020. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. (SCIC), which administers the program in that province, announced Tuesday the WLPIP premium rebate is extended to Dec. 31, from its previous end date of Sept. […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Comment/Columns, Prime cuts

Prime Cuts: Industry still faces challenges

By Steve Kay September 3, 2020

The North American beef industry is no stranger to crises. From the market-distorting beef price freeze in the U.S. under President Richard Nixon to its first BSE cases in 2003, the industry has rebounded from whatever challenge it has faced. Canada, though, never fully recovered from its BSE cases. National cattle herd numbers peaked at […] Read more

BMO regroups ag banking business

Viterra to replace western Saskatchewan elevator

U.S. livestock: Hog futures mixed, cattle drop

GFM Network News