The Australian parent of Winnipeg feed manufacturer Ridley Inc. has sold its controlling stake in the feed company to a Toronto financial services firm. Fairfax Financial Holdings said in a release Wednesday that it paid $8.50 a share for 9.53 million shares of Ridley Inc., for an aggregate price of about $81 million, to Ridley’s […] Read more
Toronto investment firm buys Ridley
Manitoba offers organic transition incentives
Manitoba farmers and food processing companies considering a shift to certified organic production can have part of their certification fees covered under a new provincial program. The province on Tuesday pledged about $338,000 over three years for the Manitoba Organic Transition program. The program is meant to reimburse farmers and processors for the fees charged […] Read more
WCI cap-and-trade plan to consider ag offsets
The Western Climate Initiative, in its proposed design for a regional cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gases, will look seriously at including agricultural offsets — which in turn could allow farmers in several provinces to provide carbon credits to the program. The WCI’s partner jurisdictions include the governments of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec […] Read more
Feds eye allowing two new meat preservatives
Health Canada will allow meat packers to use a combination of preservatives that help control listeria bacteria in ready-to-eat meats. The department announced Saturday in the Canada Gazette that it will issue an interim marketing authorization for the use of sodium diacetate and sodium acetate in meat products. The interim authorization will allow the products’ […] Read more
N.S. producers get hay and forage hotline
Nova Scotia livestock producers can now try to source hay and other forages for their animals from other farmers using a new toll-free phone line. “Many farmers have been affected by poor weather this year and do not have enough feed for their livestock for the coming winter,” Agriculture Minister Brooke Taylor said in a […] Read more
Quebec to back meat plant construction
The Quebec government plans to put up $440,000 for construction of a new meat processing facility in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. Agriculture Minister Laurent Lessard on Tuesday announced the funding for the Centre de transformation de la viande du Bas-Saint-Laurent (or CTV for short), which is expected to start processing sheep and cattle in December. The […] Read more
Feds appeal for CWB gag order: NFU
The federal government has launched a last-minute appeal of a Federal Court ruling overturning a controversial “gag order” on the Canadian Wheat Board, the National Farmers Union reported Monday. The appeal was filed “late Friday, Sept. 19, on the last possible date,” the NFU said in a release Monday. Ottawa’s appeal is of a June […] Read more
Clear skies spur harvest work in Sask., Man.
Warm, dry weather over much of Saskatchewan and Manitoba last week allowed farmers to make “significant” harvest progress, the two provinces’ agriculture departments reported Monday. Saskatchewan farmers have harvested 66 per cent of the 2008 crop, up from 39 per cent the previous week and above the 2003-07 average of 63 per cent, the provincial […] Read more
Grits pledge “regional flexibility” in ag programs
A $564 million “regional flexibility fund” for farm programming is among the promises on offer from the federal Liberals leading up to next month’s election. Liberal leader Stephane Dion and members of the Liberal caucus and candidates’ roster appeared Friday morning at a farm at Headingley, Man., just west of Winnipeg, to outline their plans […] Read more
Friends of CWB sue again over elections
Just days after suing over the removal of spending limits on third-party electioneering for Canadian Wheat Board directorships, a Prairie farmers’ group is taking the federal government to court again over further changes to the election process. “The Harper government’s latest attack on the CWB is clearly designed to prevent legitimate voters from receiving ballots […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
