Ontario's government today unveiled the final version of the regulations governing the use of neonicotinoid-treated soybean and corn seeds. If you can hardly tell the difference from the proposed regulation launched late in 2014, you can be forgiven — the final regulation is only slightly tweaked from the original proposal. Ontario's Ministry of Environment of... Read More

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods has entered an agreement to be bought by an American investment company for C$132.5 million. Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI), a publicly-traded company that "owns and manages a diverse family of established North American middle market businesses," will acquire an approximate 87 percent ownership stake in the Winnipeg-based hemp food business. Manitoba... Read More

The Saskatchewan Premises Identification (PID) Database was launched as a new online resource to help improve livestock emergency prevention and response. “The benefits of the Premises Identification Database are far-reaching,” said Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart. “Knowing where our province’s livestock is located allows us to be more effective in handling everything from flooding to... Read More

$1.2 million for the purchase of corn and soybean research equipment was announced by MP Candice Bergen near Homewood, Manitoba this past weekend. The Manitoba Corn Growers Association is collaborating with the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the University of Manitoba in purchasing research equipment to be used at 11... Read More

Swiss-based Syngenta has rebuffed a second $45 billion purchase offer from U.S.-based Monsanto, calling it "unsolicited" and a "reputational risk." Initially, Syngenta cited worries over global regulatory approvals as one of the main reasons behind the first refused offer. And, though Monsanto saw "no legitimate basis for the regulatory concerns" outlined in Syngenta's refusal, the... Read More

How do you sell an industry full of potential? If you’re hoping to influence career choices, you have to be top of mind when high school students are contemplating opportunities. That’s the motivation behind Ontario’s Lisa Thompson’s private member’s motion, Growing Agri-food Jobs, first read at Queen’s Park in November, and introduced this week. Thompson,... Read More

The Canadian government has taken another step toward following through on its two-year-old threat to retaliate against U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) unless the meat labeling rules are repealed. Canada's trade and agriculture ministers — Ed Fast and Gerry Ritz — joined Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, and Enrique Martínez y Martínez,... Read More

There’s something distinctly different about this week’s news update…and it likely has something to do with Kelvin Heppner not hosting it. RealAgriculture editor and resident fast-talker, Lyndsey Smith, fills in for our usual broadcaster this week, and is joined by Debra Murphy to talk what’s top of mind this week. What do they talk about?... Read More