A quarantined southeastern Ontario farm where 31 sheep vanished last month, just before they were to be destroyed and tested for scrapie, is now down by nine more sheep, all scrapie-negative. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed this week that it took nine sheep from Linda Montana Jones’ farm last weekend, and that the nine […] Read more
Barnmates of missing Ont. sheep negative for scrapie
Providence Grain buys western Sask. elevator
An Alberta farmer-owned grain handler has expanded its holdings into western Saskatchewan by buying an elevator it already operated on local farmers’ behalf. Providence Grain Group on Tuesday announced it has taken up 97.3 per cent of the shares in Meridian Grain Corp. for purchase through a share swap with that company’s stakeholders. The deal […] Read more
Shell scrubs plans for Man. straw ethanol plant
Fuel company Shell Canada "will not pursue" its plans for a straw-based ethanol plant in southern Manitoba. Monday’s announcement from Shell was its first formal acknowledgement that it in fact had plans for such a project, though company spokesmen had openly confirmed its interest in the region through other media outlets late last year. Shell’s […] Read more
Grain traffic backed to take Hudson Bay route
The move to deregulate nearly the only user of the Hudson Bay port of Churchill, Man. will come with per-tonne incentives for shippers who continue to ship grain on that route. Speaking Friday in Tisdale, Sask. to the annual meeting of the Hudson Bay Route Association, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz formally launched a five-year, $25 […] Read more
B.C. special crops firm buys Sask. processing plants
A new British Columbia special crops marketing firm has bought a foothold in the special crops and pulse processing business in western Saskatchewan. ILTA Grain, formed in Surrey by former managers of specialty crop export firm Finora, announced Friday it’s bought four handling and processing plants owned by Parkland Grain/Pulse of North Battleford, Sask., for […] Read more
Outgoing Man. cattlemen’s chief Major Jay Fox, 32
Funeral services are to be held Wednesday at Eddystone, Man. for one of Manitoba’s Outstanding Young Farmers and a former president of Manitoba Beef Producers. Major Jay Fox died Friday in Winnipeg from injuries he suffered after being pinned Thursday evening by a tractor’s front-end loader bucket on his farm at Eddystone, about 75 km […] Read more
Federal judge rips Ritz’s plans for CWB reform
Updated, Dec. 7 — Sweeping legislative changes to end the Canadian Wheat Board’s single marketing desk won’t be slowing down for a Federal Court ruling Wednesday that found those changes to be "an affront to the rule of law." One of the two court declarations requested Tuesday by a farmer group, Friends of the CWB, […] Read more
West considers shared livestock price insurance plan
While still well back from the study stage, Canada’s four western provinces are thinking out loud about sharing or standardizing a price insurance plan for cattle and hog producers. Alberta, which in the last two years has set up its own Cattle Price Insurance (CPIP) and Hog Price Insurance (HPIP) programs, has said it’s interested […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: Six killed in Kansas elevator explosion
Authorities in northeastern Kansas have confirmed and identified six men killed Saturday in a massive grain elevator explosion, in which grain dust is a suspected cause. The Bartlett Grain Co. elevator at Atchison, about 85 km northeast of Topeka, was rocked by a "large-scale explosion" at about 7 p.m. Saturday, city officials said. Reports have […] Read more
ICE plans new wheat, barley contracts for Oct. 2012 delivery
Winnipeg’s commodity exchange expects to have new contracts listed for milling wheat, durum and barley for October 2012 delivery if the Canadian Wheat Board’s single marketing desk ends next summer as planned. ICE Futures Canada on Wednesday laid out further plans for the new contracts, which it first proposed in May as the federal government […] Read more