LAWRENCE MACAULAY IS CANADA’S NEW MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE . . . CANADIAN YOUNG SPEAKERS FOR AGRICULTURE COMPETITION THIS WEEKEND . . . PARKS CANADA WANTS TO RESTORE BOREAL FOREST . . . CASCADES INVESTS $26.4 MILLION FOR NEW CORRUGATOR AT DRUMMONDVILLE  . . . IN THE “CRADLE OF CACAO,” CHOCOLATE BRIGADES FIGHT FOR A BIGGER HARVEST . . .        
OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

LAWRENCE MACAULAY IS CANADA’S NEW MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE
Source: Farms.com
Eyes across Canada focused on Ottawa, Ontario as Justin Trudeau was officially sworn in as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister. Part of the ceremonies included Prime Minister Trudeau naming his cabinet – 31 ministers of various industries and public policies who will help Canada going forward. Lawrence MacAulay was officially sworn in as Canada’s new Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food on Wednesday morning. (read more)

CANADIAN YOUNG SPEAKERS FOR AGRICULTURE COMPETITION THIS WEEKEND
Source: Island Farmer
The Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture (CYSA) Competition will be held this Saturday at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, Ontario. The 31st edition of CYSA will see 30 competitors aged 11 to 24 from across Canada offer their insight and solutions regarding this year’s pre-selected topics. (read more)

PARKS CANADA WANTS TO RESTORE BOREAL FOREST
Source: Cape Breton Post
Parks Canada is proposing to reduce the moose population in a 20-kilometer section of North Mountain to help in the restoration of the boreal forest in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. “We’ve been studying this for 15 years and the scientific evidence is there to show the moose browse has caused the forest to convert to grassland,” said Parks Canada resource conservation officer Derek Quann. (read more)

CASCADES INVESTS $26.4 MILLION FOR NEW CORRUGATOR AT DRUMMONDVILLE
Source: Pulp & Paper Canada
Cascades Inc. is investing $26.4 million at its Norampac corrugated board conversion plant in Drummondville, Que., to install a new corrugator that will double the plant’s production capacity. The expansion should be complete by mid-November, and the new corrugator will be operational as of January 2016. (read more)

IN THE “CRADLE OF CACAO,” CHOCOLATE BRIGADES FIGHT FOR A BIGGER HARVEST
Source: NPR
When cacao farmers like Emilio Rivera first heard of a government-backed initiative that would help them prune branches and leaves from their trees, they were skeptical. After all, a lush cacao tree with more, not fewer, branches meant more profits, the farmers said. That’s been the traditional way of thinking for generations of cacao farmers here in the Ecuadorian Amazon. But in recent years, as disease has worsened, yields have dropped pretty dramatically, and some, like Rivera, have begun embracing the initiative wholeheartedly. (read more)