Agriculture

Improved mine automation helped fertilizer giant Nutrien Ltd. increase potash production in the first quarter amid strong demand for its products, the company’s chief executive said.

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Supreme Court has rejected lawsuits by mink farmers challenging a provincial shutdown of the industry over COVID-19 concerns.

SASKATOON — Nutrien Ltd. says it earned US$165 million in its first quarter, down 71 per cent from US$576 million a year earlier. The Saskatoon-based company says its sales totalled US$5.4 billion, down 12 per cent from US$6.

OTTAWA — The Canadian government is expanding its surveillance program for a form of avian flu amid a growing outbreak in U.S. dairy cattle. Fragments of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been detected in pasteurized milk sold in the U.S.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Pork markets are showing signs of improvement, said Maple Leaf Foods Inc. chief executive Curtis Frank, helping the company achieve a profit in its first quarter compared with a year ago even as sales edged lower.

When Matthew Roy moved from New Hampshire in 2020 to start a farm in southwestern Nova Scotia, one of the new crops he zeroed in on was saffron.

Canada's farm fields are in the midst of a transformation. As the country rapidly warms from human-caused climate change, farmers are being pushed to reconsider conventional wisdom about what can and can't survive in this northern climate.

It was evident to the federal government as early as last fall that Loblaw and Walmart might be holdouts to the grocery code of conduct, jeopardizing the project's success.

GATINEAU, Que. — It's likely that Bunge Ltd.'s US$8.2-billion deal to acquire Viterra Ltd. would "substantially" reduce competition in the grain and canola oil markets, the Competition Bureau says.

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — The British Columbia government is contributing up to $25 million toward the expansion of a milk production plant aimed at boosting the supply of locally sourced food.