A wall of hay bales about three metres tall has been constructed at a British Columbia farm where the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is organizing the cull and disposal of about 400 ostriches after an outbreak of avian flu in the herd. 

Several tractor-trailers loaded high with hay rolled onto Universal Ostrich farms on Tuesday, not long after the arrests of two key people in the movement to stop the animals from being killed.

Ostriches could be seen grazing beyond the wall, where four people wearing head-to-toe white protective suits were visible from the highway near the farm. 

Officials have not confirmed why the wall was installed or when the cull will happen. 

FREDERICTON - The pumpkin patches on a number of Canadian farms are starting to look a bit frightening across the country, but not in a way that makes them ready for Halloween.

"It's sure been a spooky season," said Greg MacKenzie, the owner of Mackenzie Produce in Stratford, P.E.I.

He said his own farm has a reduced yield of pumpkins this year. A number of vines have died off and the jumbo-sized orange fruit does not weigh as much as it should, he said.

Most of them might be too small to harvest this year, he added, which could cut into how much he is able to export to the United States.

LA TUQUE - The victims of a plane crash over the weekend in La Tuque, in the province's Mauricie region, have been identified.

The victims are Valérie Fortier, 42, of St-Valère, and Jean-Pier Godin, 41, of Ste-Eulalie.

Fortier, a dairy farmer, was the president of Agricultrices du Québec, which promoted women working in the agriculture sector.

The organization paid tribute in a social media post, describing her as a mother, an entrepreneur, a farmer and an exceptional woman with a contagious and inspiring passion.

MONTREAL - A Quebec coroner is urging the province's professional farmers association to increase efforts to educate its members on the dangers of slurry pits.

Coroner Nancy Bouchard made the recommendation in reports on the deaths of a couple east of Montreal killed from asphyxiation due to exposure to hydrogen sulphide inside a manure pit at their farm.

Bouchard says that on Oct. 4, 2024, a 44-year-old farmer descended a ladder into a slurry pit on his farm in Ste-Christine, Que., probably to conduct repairs because he had tools with him.

The coroner says the man's 40-year-old partner found him unconscious in the pit and tried to rescue him, but lost consciousness on the ladder and fell backward onto his body.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday that a cull of about 400 ostriches can proceed at a British Columbia ostrich farm that suffered an avian flu outbreak.

Here are five things to know about the situation at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C.

1. What did the court decide?

The appeal court upheld earlier rulings that denied judicial review for decisions by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that the ostrich flock should be killed and that there were no grounds for an exemption. It also denied a bid to introduce new evidence in which the farm owners swear to the flock's current health.

While Canadians wait for news of an improved trade situation with the United States, false reports about quiet deals with other countries have begun to fill the void. Recently, unfounded claims have spread online that Canada has slashed potato exports to the United States in response to tariffs, and struck a $1.6 billion trade deal with "Asian markets." 

THE CLAIM

"Canada Cuts Potato Exports to U.S. – PM Carney signs $1.6B deal with Asia," reads an Aug. 6 post on the X platform, formerly X platform, formerly known as Twitter. "In just four months, over 140,000 tons of Canadian potatoes have disappeared from U.S. shelves."

The claims were shared on Facebook, Threads and TikTok, the last of which tied a supposed 41 per cent drop in exports to the United States to 35 per cent tariffs placed on Canadian potatoes by Washington. 

Former Richmond, B.C., city councillor Harold Steves' family has been farming in the area since 1877, lending their name to the community of Steveston.

The 88-year-old former politician only retired from council three years ago, and few can match his knowledge of the controversies surrounding Richmond's farmland — the creation of the province's agricultural land reserve, influxes of foreign-money investors, a spate of mega-mansion construction and now the Cowichan Nation's Aboriginal title claim.

"It's just one battle after another for 50 years," laughed Steves, who still runs the family farm in Steveston, raising belted Galloway beef cattle. 

He said he was surprised by the ruling last week that confirmed the Cowichan claim over a swath of land on the shores of the Fraser River, encompassing holdings by the Crown, the City of Richmond, as well privately owned farms and mansions.