Olymel announced temporary closure on Feb. 15 after a major outbreak of COVID-19 among workers. As of Feb. 21 there were 445 cases linked to the plant and one worker has died. | File photo

Producers pray Alta. hog plant re-opens quickly

A reopening date for Olymel’s Red Deer hog processing plant had not been set as of Feb. 22 so plant officials and prairie hog producers are making contingency plans. Olymel announced temporary closure on Feb. 15 after a major outbreak of COVID-19 among workers. As of Feb. 21 there were 445 cases linked to the […] Read more

Amidst the post-pandemic uncertainty, one ramification seems likely — onerous new taxes. | File photo

Post-pandemic tax increases considered likely

By the end of this year, if the worldwide vaccination rollout proceeds on schedule, economies should start to emerge from the crippling effects of the pandemic. Unfortunately, the ongoing economic fallout is difficult to predict. Runaway inflation? Surging interest rates? Wild fluctuations in currency values? Economists seem to have no better clues than usual, but […] Read more

Lines developed at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre include three new high-yielding Canadian Western red spring wheat lines.  |  File photo

Lines put forward for registration

CDC and Agriculture Canada unveil lines to be introduced at this week’s meetings held by the Prairie Grain Development Committee

Last year’s COVID-related restrictions challenged plant breeders across the West. Nonetheless, pedigreed seed growers and commercial grain growers will have access to new and improved plant varieties. In a Seed Talk Series presentation hosted by the Saskatchewan Seed Growers Association (SSGA) on Feb. 11, seed growers and grain farmers learned that numerous new crop lines […] Read more


The urgent push to find a vaccine has shown companies and government regulatory agencies how to speed the process. | Screencap via vido.org

COVID-19 sparks changes in how vaccines are developed

Learning how to speed up work during the pandemic emergency is expected to also benefit the animal health field

The process of vaccine development in both people and livestock has been changed forever by COVID-19. The urgent push to find a vaccine has shown companies and government regulatory agencies how to speed the process. That has addressed the human emergency and is likely to be good for livestock vaccine development in the future, said […] Read more

The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan has been working on vaccines for COVID-19, and Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe said the money should go toward a new facility to position VIDO as Canada's Centre for Pandemic Research. | Screencap via VIDO.org

Sask. announces pandemic research funding

The Saskatchewan government is giving VIDO $15 million to continue pandemic research, as long as Ottawa provides funding, too. The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan has been working on vaccines for COVID-19, and Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe said the money should go toward a new facility to position VIDO as […] Read more


The MPSG has been buffeted by the dreadful 2019 soybean harvest, followed by the disruptions of COVID-19. The impact can be seen in the organization’s net check-off levies for 2020 increasing by more than $1million to $3.38 million from $2.6 million.
 | Screencap via manitobapulse.ca

Pulse, soybean levies rise to fund Man. research

Big swings in revenue and expenses have rocked the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers in recent years, but the organization is handling both crop production and pandemic challenges without losing its focus. “At the end of 2020, MPSG was operating somewhat leaner but with a sharpened focus on our goals and priorities,” said association executive […] Read more

The Alberta government will expedite the grant process for agricultural societies by changing the funding formula for the 2021-22 fiscal year.  | Lloydminster Agricultural Exhibition Association photo

COVID puts ag societies in perilous position

Alta. government recently announced an additional operating grant to help societies weather the downturn in business


Agricultural societies in Alberta have been thrown a financial lifeline by provincial government changes to the funding formula, but they are not out of danger. Provincial funding only makes up about a third of the revenue the societies have lost due to the cancellation of events ranging from fairs to weddings, said Tim Carson, chief […] Read more

Esther Horney connects with her family through Facebook, reads books, plays games and searches for information she is curious about. | Supplied photo

Tablet program saves the day during COVID

Grande Prairie Palliative Care Society loans iPads to seniors in long-term care homes to counter lockdown isolation

CAMROSE, Alta. — A program that loans iPads to people in hospice or long-term care has been a lifeline for Esther Horney. When the doors of her long-term care home slammed shut because of COVID-19, the spry 91-year-old felt isolated and was confined to her Grande Prairie long-term care facility. Through the Grande Prairie Palliative […] Read more


Governments and industry should work fast to fix flaws revealed by COVID-19 so that Canada’s position can be improved, the report stated. | Screencap via policyschool.ca

New report urges governments to safeguard country’s ag exports

Canadian farmers and agricultural exporters are in a great position for the rest of the pandemic and the post-pandemic world. That makes it incumbent upon government authorities to not do anything to undermine Canadian agricultural competitiveness, says an agricultural think-tank report. Governments and industry should work fast to fix flaws revealed by COVID-19 so that […] Read more

A woman sits inside a McDonald’s restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine, last fall. The company surprised analysts in November with higher sales and profitability than expected following the slump of the first months of the pandemic. Its net sales dropped only two percent from the previous year.  |  Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko photo

Food firms weather COVID

Despite the pandemic hammering its industry and customer base, food service giant Sysco managed to eke out a small profit amidst slumping sales in the second half of 2020. In that, it echoes the experience of other dominant food industry companies. A huge fall in Sysco’s sales was partially compensated for by reduced operating expenses […] Read more