The Quebec government has slightly loosened its rules banning the spreading of all materials containing dead ruminants as fertilizer. Environment Minister Line Beauchamp announced on Wednesday that the province has amended its farm regulations to take into account the new federal government controls on specified risk materials (or SRMs, the tissues known to harbour the […] Read more
Quebec dials back fertilizer regulations
Ag trends point to “new era” of opportunity: TD
Canada’s farmers are “well-positioned” to take advantage of emerging tastes and trends in the global market, though success will depend at least partly on effective public policy, according to a report Wednesday by the economics wing of TD Bank Financial Group. The report by Derek Burleton of TD Economics admits that the half-decade since 2002 […] Read more
Meat testing at U.S. border back to normal
The regime for U.S. government inpsections on imports of Canadian meat will be back to normal Wednesday after audits found no safety risk to the U.S. meat-eating public, U.S. officials announced Tuesday. In a letter to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) meat programs division, dated Tuesday, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) official Dr. William […] Read more
Documentation sought for rare Newfoundland Ponies
The Newfoundland Pony Society is looking to compile an inventory of historical records for the province’s only heritage animal. The group, which held its annual meeting Sunday, got $6,000 in provincial funding this year to get the Newfoundland Pony inventory project off the ground, the Newfoundland and Labrador government noted in a release. Provincial Culture […] Read more
Maltsters’ support puts CWB opponents on offensive
Opponents of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single marketing desk for Prairie barley got support Tuesday from four major malting companies that now urge Ottawa to press ahead with “marketing choice.” The four, under the banner of the Malting Industry Association of Canada, called Tuesday for “the immediate introduction of legislation to allow for the complete […] Read more
Viterra names new VP of HR
A consultant who helped design the merger process for the operations of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United has been named as the merged company’s new human resources VP. The official title for Steven Berger, who helped develop the integration plan while working for management consulting firm Accenture, will be senior vice-president of human resources […] Read more
Koch named Sask. deputy ag minister
Alanna Koch, head of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, is Saskatchewan’s new top agriculture bureaucrat. The province’s new Saskatchewan Party government, which ousted the New Democrats in the Nov. 7 election, announced Koch’s appointment as deputy minister of agriculture on Tuesday as part of a list of orders-in-council naming new deputies. New chiefs of staff […] Read more
Net farm income drops again in ’06
Canadian farmers’ realized net farm income dropped again in 2006 to its lowest level since 2003, Statistics Canada reported Monday. The federal statistician cited rising interest, wage and fuel costs along with declines in hog prices and program payments, which more than offset revenues from crops and cattle. The agency painted the dismal net income […] Read more
Barley Growers’ chief joins GGC brass
Jeff Nielsen, president of the Western Barley Growers Association, has been elected as a vice-president of the Grain Growers of Canada. Nielsen, a grain grower at Olds, Alta., replaces Dawson Creek, B.C. grain farmer Jim Smolik, who was named last month to a three-year term as assistant chief commissioner at the Canadian Grain Commission. Nielsen […] Read more
Governments, CWB back CIGI cereal lab
The Canadian International Grains Institute (CIGI) plans to put over $900,000 in new funds to work with equipment for a testing, training and demonstration centre for crop and new food development at its Winnipeg facility. Federal and provincial politicians on Friday announced $499,000 through the Canada-Manitoba Economics Partnership Agreement and $103,700 through the Manitoba agriculture […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
