Canadian oat growers who use Headline fungicide to treat their crops may ship oats south now that U.S. regulators have also approved the product’s use on oats. BASF Canada, which makes Headline, announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently approved Headline’s use on oats. BASF had picked up registration for the […] Read more
Fungicide approval opens U.S. to treated oats
Que. to plot farm animal health strategy
Quebec’s provincial government will set up a working group to draft a strategy for animal health and welfare, and will also renew its rural veterinary service program. The province on Tuesday pledged $2.5 million over five years for the development of a strategy focused on monitoring and prevention and bringing the province’s livestock operations into […] Read more
Sheep farmers launch bluetongue insurance
The Canadian Sheep Federation and federal government have rolled out a new insurance program for sheep farmers to better manage risk in case of an outbreak of bluetongue. The CSF said its bluetongue insurance program, officially rolled out Monday, can provide Canada’s 11,000-plus sheep farmers with “affordable” coverage for losses due to bluetongue, an insect-borne […] Read more
Canada tables European free trade deal
A trade deal that would eventually end or cut tariffs on several Canadian crops and foods in four European countries has been tabled in the House of Commons. Canada and the European Free Trade Association countries — Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland — signed their free trade agreement (FTA) in January, and legislation introduced Monday […] Read more
Cross-border seed potato standards reworked
Alberta seed potatoes, possibly including some of the 2007 crop, may be allowed to travel south under new guidelines for seed potato trade between Canada and the U.S. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Monday announced “modified” guidelines to allow for continued potato trade in the event of […] Read more
Alta. can’t produce lowest-cost pork: report
Alberta can’t, nor should it, try to win a race to the bottom as a low-cost pork supplier, the provincial hog farmers’ board proposes in a new report on the state of the industry. Alberta Pork on Monday released a report, titled The Way Forward, as a discussion document on the current state of the […] Read more
Agrium takes over UAP
Fertilizer firm Agrium’s friendly takeover of U.S. ag retailer UAP is nearly complete, with nearly all UAP shares tendered to the Calgary company’s offer. As of its deadline last Friday, about 98.5 per cent of UAP’s outstanding shares had been tendered to Agrium’s $39 per share offer and not withdrawn, the company said in a […] Read more
Sask. urges farmers to keep out clubroot
Saskatchewan’s ag ministry is calling on canola growers to take the necessary steps to keep clubroot out of the province. In 2007, the province said in a release, nearly 60 canola fields in central Alberta were overcome by clubroot, a disease it described has “harmful and swift-moving.” While not yet spotted in Saskatchewan field, the […] Read more
Bevo Agro booking more U.S. business
Working itself out from under a rough 2007, B.C. greenhouse and horticultural plant supply firm Bevo Agro is reporting increased business from U.S. buyers. The Vancouver-area company last fall reported a net loss of almost $280,000 on $19.8 million in sales for its 2007 fiscal year ending June 30, citing lower sales and profits due […] Read more
Shippers’ complaint on CN car policy dismissed
Grain shippers won’t get any “emergency relief” against Canadian National Railway’s (CN) car distribution policy, and will have to wait on a broader review of CN’s performance, the Canadian Transportation Agency has ruled. The agency (CTA), in a letter Wednesday to the shippers and CN, agreed with the group of shippers — the Canadian Wheat […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
