Kelvin Heppner

The Canadian and Mexican governments made commitments to strengthen cooperation and trade ties in agriculture, as Canadian Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald led a delegation to Mexico City and Morelia this week. MacDonald met with Mexico's Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Julio Berdegué, on Tuesday — part of the Canada—Mexico Action Plan 2025-2028 announced last...

Several Canadian agricultural manufacturers have seen shipments to the U.S. come to a standstill this week following the expansion of the Trump administration's tariffs on products containing steel and aluminum. The U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday announced more than 400 additional categories of imports were immediately subject to Section 232 sectoral tariffs. These products...

The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) has let go of its field-based agronomy team as it implements a new five-year strategic framework. Multiple sources say the council's agronomy specialists were informed they had been terminated, effective immediately, on Wednesday, July 30th. For the last number of years, the council employed around eight agronomy specialists, each...

Bunge's takeover of Viterra is a done deal as of this week. While more than two years have passed since it was announced, there are still some big questions to be answered regarding the integration of the company with the most grain elevators in Canada into the company that owns the most oilseed crushing facilities...

AgReliant Genetics — the parent company of PRIDE Seeds in Canada and AgriGold and LG Seeds in the U.S. — has signed a deal to be acquired by Argentina-based plant genetics company, GDM. GDM, which operates in 15 countries with 3,400 employees, says the deal will solidify its position as the global leader in soybean...

As of today, Canadian agriculture has generally avoided the brunt of the tariff escalation with the U.S. going back to early March, but the canola seed market is a notable exception where tariffs remain a challenge, with harvest approaching. While around 70 per cent of canola seed used in Canada is produced domestically, approximately 25...

The Manitoba government announced a $13 million “down payment” on Thursday toward the Global Agriculture Technology Exchange (Gate) facility that Cereals Canada is looking to build in downtown Winnipeg. Premier Wab Kinew made the announcement alongside Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn, staff from Cereals Canada, and farmer representatives from several provincial wheat grower organizations, including the…

Understanding when a crop is most vulnerable to stress is key to maximizing yield potential. While corn is most susceptible to stress at pollination and cereal crop yield is highly sensitive to stress in the early stages, the most critical period for both making and breaking yield in soybeans occurs late in the growing season….

The Manitoba government is welcoming and on board with changes to the AgriStability program announced by the new federal agriculture minister on the eve of the federal election campaign. On Saturday, Kody Blois announced an increase to the AgriStability compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent, as well as a doubling of the payment...

Canada’s new agriculture minister has proposed making changes to the AgriStability farm business risk management program to support farmers affected by tariffs from China. Kody Blois announced the measures late Saturday, on the eve of the election call on Sunday, when the Carney government will no longer be able to make funding announcements as it…