Norwegian fertilizer and chemical company Yara International has signed on to buy nitrogen manufacturer Saskferco for $1.6 billion, the Saskatchewan company’s owners announced Monday. Saskferco’s joint owners, Minnesota-based potash and phosphate firm Mosaic and Investment Saskatchewan, a provincial Crown investment company, will sell their stakes pending federal regulatory approval in a deal that’s expected to […] Read more
Norwegian fertilizer firm to buy Saskferco
Quebec to flow culled pork to food banks
The Quebec government will put up $400,000 to direct 300,000 kg of pork from hogs slaughtered through the federal cull program to 18 food banks in the province. Dr. Alain Poirier, the province’s director of public health, said in a release Monday that while the $50 million federal program covers the slaughter of surplus breeding […] Read more
Rain improves Sask. crops, soaks Manitoba
Crops in Saskatchewan and parts of southwestern Manitoba sorely needed last week’s rain, but most of the rest of Manitoba is soggy and could now use warmer, sunnier weather. Topsoil moisture on Saskatchewan cropland last week stood at 76 per cent adequate, up from 48 per cent the week before, the provincial ag ministry said […] Read more
Funds on tap for N.B. maple sugar stands
Details and application forms will be available online Tuesday for New Brunswick maple sugar producers to get funding to help thin their stands for better production. The $300,000 sugar bush silviculture program, first announced in May, will provide up to $5,000 per producer at a rate of $500 per hectare for “approved thinning activities.” Those […] Read more
Aleutian disease funds in for Nfld. ranchers
Mink ranchers in Newfoundland and Labrador can now apply for funding to improve on-farm biosecurity under a provincial Aleutian disease management program. “Under this program, eligible operators can access up to $200,000 to implement biosecurity measures to manage and/or protect against Aleutian disease,” said Kathy Dunderdale, minister for the provincial Forestry and Agrifoods Agency, in […] Read more
Provinces, Ottawa complete $1.3B ag framework
Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial ag ministers have officially completed their multilateral Growing Forward farm policy framework, committing $1.3 billion in cost-shared funding over the next five years. Split 60/40 between Ottawa and the provinces, the $1.3 billion covers programming other than for farm business risk management (BRM), and is up $330 million from the […] Read more
Sask. Ag probes “financial irregularity”
Saskatchewan’s agriculture ministry has fired an employee and called in the RCMP as it investigates a $20,000 “financial irregularity.” The ministry gave few details in a statement Thursday, other than to say one employee had been dismissed and preliminary results of its own internal investigation show the estimated total amount involved to be about $20,000. […] Read more
CWB initials raised on 2007-08 wheat
Initial payments for 2007-08 Prairie wheat will be raised by $22 per tonne, the Canadian Wheat Board announced Thursday. For example, the increase would boost the initial payment for No. 1 Canada Western Red Spring wheat, 12.5, from $325.10 per tonne to $347.10 per tonne. The May 2007-08 PRO for No. 1 CWRS 12.5 sits […] Read more
WTO text shows “wide gaps” in talks: Ritz
A new draft modalities text on agriculture negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) lays bare “wide gaps” separating countries’ positions at the talks, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Thursday. The draft text released Thursday by Crawford Falconer, chair of the WTO ag talks, is an outline of his assessment of what WTO member countries […] Read more
Corn, soy growers seek clarity from McGuinty
Come again? Reports that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty may back off a pledge to require 10 per cent ethanol in gasoline by 2010 have Ontario’s corn and soybean growers looking for clarification. “It’s disconcerting that the Premier’s office is buckling under media pressure suggesting Ontario’s small ethanol industry is the factor responsible for rising food […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
