Canada Grains Council gets a grant

The Canada Grains Council (CGC) will receive more than $430,000 to develop a pilot insurance product for grain exporters to address the risks they face of having their shipments rejected at the border of the importing country, federal Agriculture Minister \Marie-Claude Bibeau announced this week.

“The Government of Canada wants to insure that grain farmers are protected against the unpredictability of the international market and the risks of regulatory trade barriers, particularly around the input residues on seeds,” she said.

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She said it will help meet the goal of increasing agri-food exports to $75 billion by 2025.

The Canadian Grain Commission will also receive $789,558 to develop a code of practice for farm production of Canadian grains. The voluntary codes are led by farmers.

Egg board escapes penalty

The $7.5-million penalty that hung over the Egg Farmers of Ontario marketing board for years has been waived.

Egg Farmers of Canada, the national agency, assessed the penalties because Ontario production exceeded the official limits.

But those limits proved to be less than the Ontario market needed to satisfy demand, so the national agency recently decided to waive all Liquidated Damages penalties because “there were no damages,” wrote Ontario Egg Board media relations manager Bill Mitchell.

The national agency also changed the regulations to match current market conditions.

On another front, the national agency undertook a cost-of-production study for enriched housing, which gives hens more space, and decided a premium of 11 cents a dozen is warranted. That is a penny more than the Ontario board had been paying.

About 80 per cent of Ontario’s eggs are produced in conventional housing, 15 per cent in enriched housing and five per cent in other housing setups, mainly aviaries that are necessary to meet organic production standards.

Under pressure from animal activist groups, many significant buyers of eggs, such as McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada, have set deadlines beyond which they will not buy eggs from hens housed in cages.

Grain farmers separate

Grain Farmers of Ontario has left Grain Farmers of Canada, citing policy and personality differences.

But Grain Farmers of Canada said it will continue to lobby the federal government on behalf of all of Canada’s grain growers and said the two organizations will continue to co-operate.

Grain Farmers of Ontario only joined the national organization in 2018. The Ontario association speaks for producers of corn, soybean, wheat, barley and oats.

It said it is “unable to overlook issues with the structure of the organization and personality conflicts” and is “concerned with governance and regulation compliance.”

But chairman Markus Haerle would not reveal the reasons which he said are in a letter from his board to Grain Farmers of Canada.

So, Ontarions as separatists. Now that's a change!

Two Toronto lawyers appointed

Two Toronto lawyers have been appointed to the new Animal Care Review Board.

They are Stephanie Kepman and Melody Maleki-Yazdi.

The board was set up to handle appeals from enforcement activities by 100 new inspectors who report to the Solicitor-General of Ontario on new animal care legislation.

The Solicitor-General became responsible after the Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals stopped farm inspections last year.

The chairman of the board is Katie Osborne, also a Toronto lawyer.

So how come nobody from Farm and Food Care Ontario has been appointed? Maybe no farmers have volunteered.

Ten cents per milk drink offered

Dairy Farmers of Ontario is offering a subsidy of 10 cents per milk drink for students.

It amounts to $500,000 donated to Student Nutrition Ontario for 2020.

Audrie Bouwmeester, manager of school programs, said the milk board has been making donations for 34 years.

Bayer, Corteva, BASF under investigation

The Canadian Competition Bureau has opened an investigation into pesticide pricing, including the biggest companies such as Bayer, Corteva and BASF.

Reuters news agency reports the investigation was sparked by complaints filed by Farmers Business Network in California.

Court documents show that the investigation also includes wholesalers, such as Cargill and Univar.

Pot going to pot

Marijuana companies are fast falling out of favour.

A year ago they were the darlings of the investment community. 

Today they are struggling.

The latest big company to hit the skids is Aurora Cannabis Inc. of Edmonton, the second-largest marijuana grower in Canada.

This week its chief executive officer Terry Booth revealed he is stepping down and 500 employees are losing their jobs, including 25 per cent of the corporate staff.

The company also announced it expects to take a $740-million to $775-million reduction on goodwill, and an impairment charge of between $190-million and $225-million. 

The moves are being done “to rationalize the cost structure and balance sheet going forward,” the company said in a statement.

Mr. Booth has led Aurora since 2013.

Canopy Growth, Canada’s largest marijuana producer in the former Hershey’s chocolate plant at Smith’s Falls, soared to a stock-market value of $14 billion by Oct.5, 2018, but last year its share prices plunged by 32 per cent and it changed chief executive officers twice – in July and December.

On Tuesday, Tilray announced it is laying off 10 per cent of its employees. Its stock price fell by 78 per cent last year.