Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, shown here last month in Saskatoon, on Friday announced royal assent for his Bill C-18, the Agricultural Growth Act. (Agr.gc.ca)

Ritz’s Agricultural Growth Act now law

Banff — There was applause here when plant breeders, seed companies and farmers at the Prairie Recommending Committee for Wheat, Rye and Triticale heard the Agricultural Growth Act, with its stronger intellectual property rights, was about to receive royal assent. Immediately after the bill received royal assent Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz tabled a treaty […] Read more

Feed processors operating in Canada may be brought into the Canadian Grain Commission’s producer protection program under Grain Act amendments tabled Tuesday in Ottawa. (Photo copyright Ronaldo Ronan Rufino, courtesy Alltech)

CGC producer protection being revamped, may include feed mills

The Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) is considering adding feed mills to its producer protection program, as part of an overhaul of the program proposed in the federal government’s Bill C-48. C-48, dubbed the Modernization of Canada’s Grain Industry Act, got its first reading Tuesday in the House of Commons. Adding feed mills to the mix […] Read more


Ron Pidskalny, executive director of the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, has resigned after one year in the position, recognizing the association is short of funds. Photo: Allan Dawson

Canadian Forage and Grassland Association short of funds, and a manager

The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association (CFGA) set up five years ago to help Canada’s struggling forage and grassland industry is struggling itself, but vows to carry on despite a shortage of funds and the resignation of its executive director, Ron Pidskalny. “Nobody is saying we’re going to have to shut it down,” CFGA chair […] Read more

CWB says it’s not for sale

CWB says it’s not for sale

Manitoba Co-operator — CWB isn’t a grain company on the auction block, it’s a company looking for a new partner, who along with farmer-shareholders, will help it grow to serve western Canadian farmers better. “I think there is a misunderstanding about what CWB is trying to do,” Dayna Spiring, CWB’s chief strategy officer said in […] Read more


Speckled pods are a sign of light or moderate frost damage. (Canola Council of Canada photo)

Have you got green standing canola in mid-September?

Consider swathing canola now — or at least a few days before the next expected killing frost, according to Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development’s oilseed specialist Anastasia Kubinec. And if standing canola is frozen, be prepared to swath it as soon as possible, she said in an interview Monday. Swathing too soon can reduce […] Read more

A new biocontrol is proposed to use fungal microbes to prevent healthy wheat heads (top) from damage by fusarium head blight (bottom). (Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

New biocontrol to fight fusarium in cereals

Using fire to fight fire, a new biocontrol product could be commercialized for use against fusarium head blight in a year or two. Adjuvants Plus at Kingsville, Ont. has reached a licensing agreement with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) to use its patented technology — a fungal organism called Clonostachys rosea, strain ACM941 — to […] Read more


The M.V. Ikan Suji arrived Tuesday at Churchill, Man. to take a load of Richardson International’s wheat to Mexico. (Photo courtesy Richardson International)

Churchill open, hopes for record exports

The first ship of what’s hoped to be a record-breaking year was loading wheat at Manitoba’s Port of Churchill starting Tuesday. The M.V. Ikan Suji began taking on 32,500 tonnes of No. 2 Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat sold by Richardson International and destined for Mexico. Merv Tweed, president of OmniTrax Canada, which owns […] Read more

Grain commission bonding replacement plan stalls

After a year of negotiations to develop an insurance-based producer payment protection plan, the Canadian Grain Commission has called it quits, surprising and disappointing some farm groups. The CGC has been attempting to replace the current bonding system to protect farmers against payment defaults for grain delivered to merchandisers. It had been negotiating with with […] Read more