Province’s Tories oppose ALTO

Eleven provincial Tories have issued a statement calling for meaningful consultation on ALTO, the federal government’s proposed high-speed rail line linking Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

The 11 MPPs who made the statement include Laurie Scott, Steve Clark, Dave Smith, Tyler Allsopp, Ric Bresee, John Jordan, George Darouze, Stéphane Sarrazin and Billy Denault plus two cabinet members: Minister of Colleges and Universities Nolan Quinn and Labour Minister David Piccini.

“If Alto is to proceed, local voices impacted by this project deserve to see their feedback reflected in the project’s planning, route selection and delivery. 

"The federal government must ensure that any potential future rail project minimizes impacts on farmland and is supported by the people affected.” the statement said.

Dairy lobbying overwhelms trade talks

Canada’s dairy industry accounted for 90 per cent of the responses when the federal government invited public comment on trade talks with the United States and Mexico.

Matt Malone is a scholar at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and the author of Open Governments, Secret Canada: Hiding Information Other Countries Share, used Access to Information to learn that 4,572 of the total of 5,143 responses from stakeholders were dairy special interest groups or dairy farmers engaged in a letter-writing campaign.

All the public got was an opaque summary of the consultations, leaving it unclear where any specific input came from, Malone said.

“As with so much of the Carney government’s approach to trade with the United States, the attitude was tight-lipped and need-to-know,” he said.

It was similar with comments on government plans to regulate Artificial Intelligence. All the public got was an AI-generated summary of comments and no identification of who was lobbying and what for.

Cargill chief forecasts complex future

 

Cargill’s Brian Sikes, the board chairman and chief executive officer, foresees a complex future.

He wrote a letter in the annual report saying slowing population growth, aging consumers, shifting dietary preferences, geopolitical tensions, artificial intelligence (AI) and climate disruption are reshaping the global food system, requiring companies to focus on “smarter movement, stronger connections and deeper trust” rather than simply increasing production.

Cargill said it has spent the past two years restructuring its operations, consolidating five enterprises into three and reducing its business groups from 23 to 14 while investing in digital technologies, AI capabilities and acquisitions, including Mig-Plus and Teys, to improve efficiency and better serve customers.

As an example of its use of technologies, he said an AI-powered hypothesis engine is helping researchers reduce work that once took months to just hours. Cargill has been using AI in supply chain management, product development, grain forecasting and research.

Turkey price-fixing winding up

 

Class-action lawsuits alleging price-fixing by turkey processing companies in the United States are winding up with federal court approval of a settlement for four companies.

 House of Raeford and Prestage Farms will be paying $18.7 million US to their customers; Purdue and Foster Farmers reached settlements earlier.

In total, $59 million has been paid in class-action lawsuits filed by various groups of customers of Butterball, Cargill, Cooper Farms, Farbest Foods, Foster Farms, Hormel, Jennie-O Turkey Store, House of Raeford, Perdue Farms, Prestage Farms and Tyson Foods.

Corn, soy prices boost farmers’ mood

 

Higher prices for corn and soybeans brought a turn-around in farmers’ moods in the United States, reported Purdue University.

The improvement in July ended three straight months of declines in Ag Economy Monitor it publishes every month based on a survey of about 700 farmers.

Yet only 13 per cent said their financial situation is better than a year ago. About a third of those surveyed said they expect to end the year better than last year.

Only about a half of farmers think the U.S. is headed in the right direction, a sharp decline from the 70 per cent average for the last six months.