Quebec’s Agriculture Minister Pierre Paradis announced funding for L’Arterre at winery Cassis Monna et Filles of St-Pierre-de-l’Ile-d’Orleans, Que., accompanied by (l-r) Catherine et Anne Monna and Land Bank agent Leslie Carbonneau and other dignitaries. (Groupe CNW/MAPAQ)

Quebec service to match farmland sellers, young buyers

The Quebec and federal governments are putting up funds for a different kind of online match site: one to connect aspiring young farmers with producers who are either retiring or wanting to sell or rent farmland. The two governments on Tuesday announced $300,000 for the Centre de reference en agriculture et agroalimentaire du Quebec (CRAAQ) […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Quarantined Alberta ranches to get AgriRecovery

Ranchers in southeastern Alberta having to feed and maintain quarantined cattle they can’t move or sell can expect a federal/provincial AgriRecovery plan to help cover those costs in the next few days. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and his Alberta counterpart Oneil Carlier on Wednesday announced producers faced with “extraordinary costs” due to federal quarantines […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Saskatchewan to rework farm drainage complaint process

A new complaint process to deal with unauthorized drainage on Saskatchewan farmland is expected to lead to resolutions in months instead of years. Scott Moe, minister responsible for Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency, on Tuesday introduced legislative amendments meant to encourage “producer co-operation through the formation of watershed associations and (allow) for producer-led projects.” Under the […] Read more


(Lisa Guenther photo)

Taxability to rise on Saskatchewan rangeland

The percentage of value (POV) subject to property taxes will be bumped back up on Saskatchewan producers’ rangeland and pasture for the 2017 tax year. Government Relations Minister Donna Harpauer on Monday announced the POV on non-arable (range) land such as pastures will be set via regulatory amendment at 45 per cent, up from 40. […] Read more

(Ontario.ca)

Restricted zone tightens for Algonquin wolf hunting

Farmers will be able to protect their livestock and families from Algonquin wolves in any areas and hunting will only be restricted in areas near four parks, allaying some concerns of farmers after the wolf was declared a threatened species. Kathryn McGarry, Ontario minister of natural resources and forestry, spoke to the Ontario Federation of […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Plentiful feed supplies weigh on feed barley prices

CNS Canada — A steady stream of fusarium-damaged wheat is flooding Alberta feedlots these days, giving ranchers a variety of choices on what they can give to their animals — but also keeping feed barley prices in check. “That has definitely been heavy on the barley,” said Allan Pirness of Marketplace Commodities in Lethbridge. That […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

PotashCorp to cut jobs, output as prices sag

Reuters — Fertilizer maker PotashCorp said Wednesday it was reducing jobs and output at one Saskatchewan mine and temporarily curtailing production at two others as the sector struggles with weak prices. The company said it would cut production at its Cory potash mine, just west of Saskatoon, to 800,000 million tonnes a year from 1.4 […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Drought-hit tax deferral zones named

Ottawa has seen enough drought in parts of southwestern Alberta, southern and eastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec to offer deferrals on their ranchers’ 2016 income tax from breeding livestock sales. Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Tuesday released the federal government’s initial list of municipalities designated for the 2016 deferral. In Alberta, those areas include Clearwater, […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Ranchers under quarantine fear going ‘broke by spring’

Winnipeg | Reuters –– Ranchers in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan whose herds are under quarantine due to the spread of bovine tuberculosis told federal legislators Tuesday they desperately need to sell cattle or receive compensation to avoid financial disaster. Ranchers who raise calves typically sell them in autumn to feedlots, where they are fattened […] Read more