Calgary — While biotechnology has made huge gains in corn and soybeans, it has yet to penetrate markets for the world’s two leading food grains, wheat and rice. Until farmers and consumers decide to change their minds, that’s how it’s likely to stay, speakers said at the 2007 Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference (ABIC 2007) here […] Read more
ABIC: Biotech wheat stays on the shelf
Report urges cash support for Sask. organic farms
A new report to the Saskatchewan government recommends aggressive support for organic farming with a proposed goal on having 10 per cent of the province’s farmers involved in such production by 2015. The report by Lon Borgeson, the province’s regional economic development minister and legislative secretary on organics, recommends cash support for both organic farmers […] Read more
Alta. lifts cap on wind power
Alberta’s provincial government has removed its limit on the amount of wind power that can be generated provincewide, opening the door to more than double its current wind power capacity by year’s end alone. The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) imposed a temporary cap of 900 megawatts (MW) in 2006 to ensure the overall reliability […] Read more
CN to buy U.S. Steel’s Chicago line
Canadian National Railway (CN) expects to improve its traffic flow at Chicago by buying a local short rail line company from U.S. Steel for US$300 million. Pending approval by U.S. transport regulators, a deal for CN to buy the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Co. (EJ&E) is expected to close in mid-2008, the two companies […] Read more
Viterra: That’s “VT” to brokers
Stock in Canada’s biggest grain handler will begin trading Friday under the ticker symbol VT on Toronto’s TSX. Viterra, which formed from the June purchase of No. 1 grain handler Agricore United by No. 2 handler Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, adopted the new name at the end of August and will make the formal name change […] Read more
Farmlife editor Bonnie Thompson, 58
Bonnie Thompson, who edited the Farmlife section of Grainews and the Country Crossroads section of the Manitoba Co-operator, died early Tuesday morning of complications from a long bout with cancer. Thompson, 58, was born in southwestern Manitoba and came to the publishing division of Winnipeg-based United Grain Growers in July 1983 as an administrative assistant […] Read more
“May contain traces” is too little warning: CFIA
There may be a crackdown on how packaged foods’ precautionary labels are worded, if food processors choose not to accurately reflect allergy risks in their warnings, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said yesterday. In an advisory to manufacturers and importers, CFIA and Health Canada noted that their policy on these “precautionary statements” is under review. […] Read more
Alta. would intervene in CWB case: minister
Alberta says it will again apply for intervener status if the federal government is granted leave to appeal a ruling that shut down its plans for an open market in Prairie barley. In a column distributed by the provincial agriculture department, Agriculture Minister George Groeneveld said the province “will remain in the fight until it […] Read more
Pork council joins call for higher hog prices
The Canadian Pork Council yesterday joined six other national hog farmer groups in calling for “immediate lifts” in farmer returns and wholesale and retail pork prices. Speaking from the World Pork Conference in Nanjing, China, the CPC and farmer groups from Britain, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa said their farmer members are […] Read more
Packers’ group names Canadian spokesman
Robert de Valk, an Ottawa-based consultant on food regulatory issues, is the new Canadian government affairs director for the North American Meat Processors Association (NAMP). The group, which represents North American meat processors and their associates from offices in Reston, Va. (near Washington, D.C.) and in Ottawa, said in a release that de Valk’s appointment […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
