Ag in the house: june 1 - 5. Jun 08, 2026 By Diego Flammini Assistant Editor, North American Content, Farms.com Minister MacDonald highlighted ag investments on June 1 In question period on June 1, Pat Kelly, the Conservative MP for Calgary Crowfoot, asked why the Liberals guided Canada into a recession when the rest of the world is facing some of the same outside challenges. Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald provided the government's response. He reminded the House of recent industry investments, "like Kraft Heinz investing $250 million in Montreal and Bayer investing $45 million in canola research in Winnipeg," the minister said. "A couple of weeks ago, I was at K+S Potash in Saskatchewan, which is investing $3 billion over 10 years. Cargill in Saskatchewan is investing $350 million in a new crushing plant, and Imperial Oil in Strathcona is investing in biofuels." On June 3, MacDonald answered a question from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Poilievre asked Prime Minister Carney to clarify if Canada is in either a technical or real recession. MacDonald's answer didn't address the issue of the economy. "Mr. Speaker, every time I get on my feet in this House and talk about farmers, it is a good day. If that is what it takes to get a reaction over there about how important farming is in this country, then that is what we need to do, and I will do it every time," he said. On June 4, the ag minister participated in an exchange with Dave Epp, the Conservative MP for Chatham-Kent-Leamington, and an Ontario farmer. Epp pointed out the challenging economic times Canadian families, farmers, and businesses are facing under the Liberals. "Why are the Liberals content to watch Canada's competitiveness and productivity erode? Is this a technical recession or technically a failure of policy?" MacDonald's response highlighted investments in Epp's riding and around Ontario ag. "There is Ideal Can, which is moving to Leamington, one of the only canning companies in the country using aluminum and steel from Canada," he said. "We are going to continue to invest in the processing sector and in agriculture. There are all kinds of companies. I am talking about Massilly North America's $85-million new food packaging processor and Agropur's plans to invest nearly $1 billion in plants in eastern Canada. We are going to continue to invest in Ontario." When Epp pressed the government on declining productivity and investments, MacDonald mentioned additional projects in the ag and food sectors. On June 5, Epp asked the government about another item impacting the ag sector. He wanted answers related to the progress of the Alto rail project despite concerns from farmers. "Is the Liberals' plan for food security to slice up farmland? Is this what they call governing in a technical recession, or is it really just a technical war on agriculture?" he asked. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon answered. The government will do its due diligence, he said. "We will, of course, achieve that by working with farmers and their representatives. We will, of course, do that by upholding principles whereby agriculture continues to flourish in our country," he said. "We do note the Conservatives' opposition to this project. I can tell that member that most Canadians have noted their opposition to that project as well." Bigger Yields, Bigger Savings and Less Time

Farmers onside with closing dairy plant, Agropur says. Change expected to double the processing capacity in Maritimes. Jordan Gill · CBC News · Posted: May 21, 2026 2:00 AM PDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago Estimated 3 minutes Social sharing. The owners of a Sussex-area dairy plant scheduled to close by 2028 say farmers in the region are largely supportive of the move, even though it will mean a loss of jobs. In April, the dairy product co-operative Agropur announced the planned closure of the southern New Brunswick plant, as well as its Truro, N.S., plant. At the same time, the company expects to expand production in Miramichi and at its Bedford, N.S. plant. Maxime Devourdy, president of ingredients at Agropur, said the company held meetings with farmers in the region about two weeks ago and found support for the change. "They understand that it's a good project overall for the future of the dairy industry in the region," Devourdy said. "It was the [Sussex] discussion that was a bit more tough. But again, we felt that we have the support from them." Future unclear. The expansion of Agropur's Miramichi plant means an additional 15 jobs there, but an overall loss of 45 jobs for New Brunswick. When asked, Devourdy wouldn't say if those additional jobs would be offered to employees at the Sussex plant. "We have still two years ahead of us," he said. "So we can prepare accordingly. So we can do an assessment of the workforce that we need." The Sussex-area plant opened in 1984 under the Dairytown name. That company, which made butter and milk powders, merged with Agropur in 2014. Devourdy said there has been no "tangible conversation" yet about what to do with plants when they become vacant. "We still have a long time to operate these sites, and then that's something that we're going to discuss further with other stakeholders." Growing market. Devourdy said one of the major benefits of the change will be more Maritime milk processed in the Maritimes. Currently, a lot of milk produced in the Maritimes has to be shipped to Quebec and Ontario to be processed. "We are doubling the capacity of the milk that is being processed in the region," he said. "We can absorb Sussex central volume, we can keep the milk that is being... transferred to other provinces and, as well, we have room to grow in the future." One of the major factors in upgrading the Bedford plant is the ability to process more protein-enriched milk products, such as skim milk powder and condensed skim milk. Devourdy said enriched protein milk products are a rapidly growing market. "This is, I would say, the category that is growing at a double digit rate," he said. "We see it as a segment that's going to continue to take more place in our portfolio, and there's going to be a growth phase." Jordan Gill is a reporter based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. With files from Mark Leger

N.B. premier says Agropur should've shared plans to close Sussex plant. Published: April 27, 2026 at 7:32PM EDT New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says "it would've been helpful" to have known Agropur's full restructuring plans prior to the dairy co-operative's announcement last week of winding down operations in Sussex while expanding in Miramichi with the help of taxpayer's money. Agropur said the Sussex-area facility - which makes butter and powdered milk products - would close by the end of 2028, resulting in approximately 60 job losses. At the same time, Agropur said a $20-million expansion at its Miramichi facility would create 15 skilled jobs. In February, the New Brunswick government announced funding of up to $2.4 million in a non-repayable contribution to expand the capacity to process milk in Miramichi. On Thursday, Holt said she had misunderstood information from the company when she told reporters there would be a net gain of Agropur jobs in New Brunswick. Holt said on Monday there would in fact be a net loss of about 45 Agropur jobs in New Brunswick. Holt said when Opportunities NB learned Agropur was in the process of restructuring, the provincial government "saw the potential for loss" and decided to act. "We were holding on to as much as we could within the province's means and with the responsible fiscal analysis we needed to do about how we invest to support jobs in New Brunswick," said Holt. As part of last week's announcement, Agropur also confirmed it would be expanding production in Bedford, N.S., while also ending operations in Truro, N.S. Holt and Minister responsible for Opportunities NB Luke Randall said they didn't know the full details of Agropur's restructuring plans when the non-repayable contribution was announced in February. "That would've been helpful information to have, to understand the full picture of the impact on New Brunswick and not just the opportunity to modernize and secure, prevent the loss of jobs in the Miramichi, but to really understand the full picture of what the company was planning to do," said Holt. "It's not good news for Sussex. It's not news that any of us are happy about. But the support will be there for families and the people impacted." Holt said employees in the Sussex-area would have opportunities to relocate for other Agropur jobs "should they choose to," adding there were no conversations happening to try and reverse the company's decision. Progressive Conservative MLA Tammy Scott-Wallace told CTV Atlantic last week "we do not have these jobs to lose in this region." "I'm absolutely livid to think that the province would even consider giving money to one region that would cause such serious harm to another," said Scott-Wallace.