AGCO weathering tough market

 

"AGCO delivered resilient third-quarter results in what is the weakest global industry demand environment in more than a decade," said Eric Hansotia, AGCO's chairman, president and chief executive officer.

He said machinery companies face higher input costs and uncertainty in commodity markets and trade, but AGCO survived by adjusting production to demand, maintaining cost discipline and managing dealer inventories.

“We also advanced our Farmer-First strategy by strengthening the market position of our premium brands and expanding precision agriculture solutions that help farmers automate tasks, address labor constraints and get more from their equipment," he said.

Net sales for the first nine months of 2026 were approximately $7.2 billion, an increase of seven-tenths of one per cent from last year.

Net income was $177.2 million compared with $625.8 million.

Kosher meat packer disgruntled

 

Mendy Boyarsky said he is being shut out of an important part of the kosher meat market in Montreal and is considering a legal challenge to Canada’s Competition Tribunal.

He believes the Jewish Community Council of Montreal (JCC), which operates Montreal Kosher, known as MK Kosher certification, has used its dominant position in the market to squeeze out competition among meat suppliers — such as himself — and pressure local congregations to buy only MK approved kosher products. 

“They don't allow competition in the market. So they're able to charge exorbitant prices,” he said.

The market he covets is sales to synagogues and banquet spaces. He is surviving on sales to shoppers who come to his store., Adelph Meats in Côte Saint-Luc, in Montreal's west end.

“There hasn't been another option other than the MK in Montreal for who knows how long,” he said.

He chose to operate outside of MK Kosher’s certification system and to use a different kosher meat certifier — Kashrut Supervision du Rabbinat (KSR).

“We have to be able to sell it to the synagogues, we have to be able to sell anywhere we want to be able to sell to,” he said.

He has support from many in the Montreal Jewish community who want to see his situation put before the Competition Tribunal, said Joshua Krane, a competition law specialist and partner at MLT Aikins in Ottawa.

Quebec cheese company licence suspended

 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has suspended the licence for Le Fromage au Village Inc. of Lorrainville, Quebec.

The CFIA said the company failed to identify food safety hazards, to develop and implement monitoring, control and response procedures to prevent Listeria monocytogenes food-poisoning bacteria and lacked an adequate product traceability program.

Ontario wants to map underground services

The Ontario Ministry of Infrastructure wants to create a province-wide map of underground services.

A proposal that is open for comments for 30 days said “information about Ontario's underground infrastructure is currently maintained by hundreds of organizations, including municipalities, utilities and other owners and operators. 

“This information is often fragmented across different systems and formats, making it difficult to access the reliable information needed to plan and build infrastructure projects. 

“Improving access to accurate and timely information about the location of underground infrastructure assets can help reduce project delays and costs, improve planning coordination, and contribute to the efficient delivery of Ontario's $236 billion capital plan to build transit, highways, hospitals, schools and childcare spaces.”

NFU worried about pesticides reviews

 

National Farmers. Union President Phil Mount is worried about the federal government’s plan to stop automatically reviewoing the safety of pesticides every 15 years.

He worries it may reduce Canadian access to markets such as the European Union which has stiffer requirements than Canada.

But Pierre Petelle, president and chief executive officer of Crop Life Canada which speaks for companies making and selling pesticides, defended the proposal that is contained in the federal government’s omnibus Bill C-30.

And he raised a different issue: there are other countries such as the United States that are approving new pesticides before they receive clearances from Pesticide Regulatory Directorate which is within the Health Canada department.

Mount said “eliminating mandatory pesticide re-evaluation is one of those very low bars that that is required by many of these new markets that we’re theoretically looking for. It’s going to do nothing but harm.”

Mount also criticized the government for “hiding” the new regulations in the omnibus bill.

Mount argued the changes in C-31 were designed behind closed doors without input from producers nor the special scientific advisory committee at Health Canada.

 

Petelle said concerns about Bill C-31 may be misleading. The Pest Management Regulatory Directorate will still be required to determine if risks associated with products have changed so “no one’s scrapping anything.” 

Data that suggests a problem with a product would still initiate a review, and that could happen at any time, he said.

Canada Packers lost money

 

Canada Packers lost $28.1 million in the third quarter since it was spun off from Maple Leaf Foods.

It made substantial profits in the first two quarters – eg. $25.6 million in the second quarter.

The results included a $47.6-million non-cash decrease in fair value of its hogs compared with $4.9-million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Canada Packers says it earned 23 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.13 per share a year earlier.

Sales in the quarter totalled $420.7-million, down from $481.80-million a year ago, when they included operations not acquired in its spinoff from Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Change would gut official plans

The province has posted its plans to prevent people, including municipalities, from appealing official plan changes when the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has referred the issue to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

The provincial cabinet appoints the members of the Ontario Land Tribunal which has also vetoed a number of municipal government decisions after developers have filed appeals. 

This recent change is up for public comment. It is posted on the province’s regulatory registry.

Good luck if a developer persuades the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing that it wants to change your farm from agriculture to residential development in your local official plan.