The Independent Dealers Entrepreneurial Association (IDEA), a Saskatoon-based group of locally-owned crop input retailers, has named Nipawin, Sask. farm consultant Bob Evans as its new executive director. Evans, who has previously done advisory work for the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers and is rostered with the Canadian Farm Business Advisory Service to provide subsidized counselling for […] Read more
Input dealers name new executive director
N.S. won’t fund Atlantic Beef plant
Ag department officials in Nova Scotia who have studied the latest feasibility report on the Atlantic Beef Products packing plant in P.E.I. are advising their government not to put up cash to sustain the plant, CBC News reported today. CBC quoted Nova Scotia Agriculture Minister Brooke Taylor as saying Thursday that while the plant is […] Read more
P.E.I. names point person for potatoes
Going beyond the traditional ag extension duties of its potato specialists, Prince Edward Island has created the role of a potato industry co-ordinator. Rachel Cheverie, the province’s integrated pest management (IPM) specialist at Charlottetown for the past eight years, has been appointed to the new role, which will include co-ordination of potato sector research and […] Read more
N.S. gears up for Open Farm Day
Forty farms in Nova Scotia will open their doors to the public during the province’s annual Open Farm Day on Sept. 23. The day will be based on the theme of “Buy Local…Eat Fresh,” in keeping with the province’s new Select Nova Scotia campaign to encourage consumers to buy locally-grown or -raised products where available. […] Read more
Dairy giant buys Manitoba flax processor
An Irish multinational dairy foods and nutritional ingredients firm has bought Manitoba flax processor Pizzey’s Milling for an undisclosed sum. Glanbia plc, through its U.S. subsidiary Glanbia Nutritionals, said it plans to use its research and marketing structure to develop the international market for the flax ingredients Pizzey’s produces. The company, a family business operated […] Read more
B.C. expands home-grown school snack program
British Columbia today expanded its school fruit and vegetable snack program to 164 schools, providing B.C.-grown fruit and vegetables as occasional snacks for up to 57,000 students. The program, which started as a pilot in 2006 with 10 schools and expanded in January to 51, is delivered by the B.C. Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation […] Read more
NFU calls for hike in CWB initials
The National Farmers Union is appealing to Ottawa to authorize a raise in initial prices for Prairie wheat, durum and barley for 2007-08. The federal government has responsibility for setting the initials, which are then posted by the Canadian Wheat Board. The CWB — which will review and recommend adjustment payments if market conditions and […] Read more
Manitoba research funding agency boosts cap
The Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council (MRAC) has revised its funding guidelines to allow eligible applicants to access a maximum $300,000, up from $200,000, in federal ag innovation funds. MRAC, which administers funding in Manitoba for the federal Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program, said in a release that some projects may qualify for additional […] Read more
Ag Growth offering to raise $45M
Winnipeg’s Ag Growth Income Fund expects to raise $45 million to pay down debt and look at new acquisitions, following an agreement today to sell 1.73 million trust units to a Canadian underwriters’ syndicate. The underwriters are led by TD Securities and include Wellington West, CIBC World Markets and PI Financial. Their agreement, worth $26 […] Read more
4-H Council sheds top-down operating structure
The members of the Canadian 4-H Council have approved new bylaws that are expected to put responsibility for the council’s operations largely in the hands of its staff and place the board in a “visionary” role. Member representatives voted on the change at a special general meeting yesterday. Pending approval (expected by mid-October) from Industry […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
