Any more delay on Ottawa’s bill to set up minimum biofuel content for Canadian fuels could cost some development in Canada’s biofuel production sector, the Grain Growers of Canada warned Wednesday. Bill C-33, which the House of Commons passed in late May, would require all gasoline sold in Canada to contain five per cent ethanol […] Read more
Don’t delay biofuel bill, GGC warns
Performance Plants takes biofuel work to U.S.
Ontario biotech firm Performance Plants plans to develop feedstock crops for cellulose ethanol at a new research centre in New York state. The Kingston, Ont. company said Wednesday it has established an “American Research Center” at Waterloo, N.Y., about 75 km west of Syracuse, to develop “specialized non-food crops for industries seeking renewable feedstocks for […] Read more
Former N.S. ag minister Ed Lorraine, 80
Ed Lorraine, a Colchester County cattle producer who was Nova Scotia’s agriculture minister from 1997 to 1999, died early Wednesday morning at age 80, the provincial government reported. “Mr. Lorraine was not only a tremendous representative for his constituency but was an invaluable advocate for the agricultural community during his time in government and throughout […] Read more
Senate urges action on ag inputs, rural affairs
The Canadian Senate’s standing committee on agriculture recommends the federal government step in to address the rising costs of farm inputs, and to raise rural affairs’ profile in national policy. In separate reports released Tuesday — one on rural poverty, the other on the cost of farm inputs — the committee respectively called for the […] Read more
Suncor to boost Ont. ethanol plant capacity
Suncor Energy has announced it will spend $120 million to double the capacity of its St. Clair corn ethanol plant near Sarnia, Ont. The facility has been operating since July 2006 and is now the largest ethanol plant in Canada, with capacity of 200 million litres per year, the company said in a release Thursday. […] Read more
Atlantic ag ministers eye development plan
Atlantic Canada’s agriculture ministers say they’ve agreed to work toward a “more co-operative” approach on issues of shared interest and plan to talk more about formalizing that approach. Meeting Monday in Little Rapids, near Corner Brook, Nfld., the four ministers agreed to “further explore the concept of an Atlantic provinces’ memorandum of understanding (MOU) for […] Read more
Alta. program seen limiting CWD spread
Alberta’s control program for chronic wasting disease (CWD) seems to be having an effect in limiting its further spread, the province said Tuesday. The provincial sustainable resource development department reported Tuesday that it has found 24 new cases of CWD in over 8,500 hunted and “removed” deer through its control programs and through submissions of […] Read more
Meat eater study extends up value chain
A study of Canadian consumers’ meat buying habits and preferences will now extend further up the meat value chain, the George Morris Centre announced Monday. The Guelph-based ag think tank’s study, Consumer data for farmers and the agri-food industry, recently wrapped up 12 months of researching purchasing behaviours and drivers of 7,700 consumers of pork, […] Read more
B.C. farms keep “farm” tax status for 2009
Any major moves to reclassify what constitutes a “farm” in British Columbia for municipal tax purposes will now wait until the 2010 tax year. The provincial government will accept that interim recommendation as one of three from its farm assessment review panel, which plans to hold hearings in coming months to discuss that issue. Specifically, […] Read more
Sask., Man. crops need warmer weather
While fields in central and southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba got some timely rain last week, farmers across both provinces are generally waiting for warmer temperatures to improve crop development. Saskatchewan Agriculture on Monday reported rainfall ranging from just seven millimetres in the province’s northwest to 75 mm in its dry southwest. Over 60 per […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
