The national on-farm food safety program for Canada’s tree and vine fruit growers has passed a government technical review process. The Canadian Horticultural Council said Wednesday that the program it developed has been “officially endorsed” by a team of federal and provincial government experts. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency gave the program a letter of […] Read more
Hort growers’ safety program endorsed
Canola council names corporate VP
A government relations consultant and former chief of staff to then-Canadian Wheat Board minister Charlie Mayer is the Canola Council of Canada’s new vice-president of corporate affairs. Jim Everson takes the position, based in Ottawa, effective April 1, the canola council said in a release Wednesday. Everson “will represent Canada’s $14 billion canola industry in […] Read more
Farm Progress names Viterra as top sponsor
Regina’s Western Canada Farm Progress Show will be “presented by Viterra” for its 2008 and 2009 events. The Regina grain company and the farm technology and equipment show announced a multi-year sponsorship deal Wednesday, making Viterra the “presenting sponsor” for the next two shows. “The partnership builds on longstanding relationships that were established with Viterra’s […] Read more
Viterra launches Alta. carbon credit plan
Viterra plans to offer cash or company credit to eligible Alberta farmers in exchange for their carbon credits. The Regina grain company on Wednesday officially launched its new carbon credit program, extending its offer to Alberta farmers who use reduced- or no-till cropping practices that help sink atmospheric carbon into agricultural soils, thus reducing excess […] Read more
Quebec ag receipts up in 2007: ISQ
Farm cash receipts in Quebec were up 9.3 per cent in 2007 over 2006, the provincial statistician reported Tuesday. The province’s farmers posted receipts of $6.77 billion in the last calendar year, l’Institut de la statistique du Quebec (ISQ) said. That’s up $574.9 million, about half of which comes from production and the other half […] Read more
Lentil treatment to be sold via UAP
Crown, a seed treatment for lentils and chickpeas, will be distributed exclusively by UAP Canada on the Prairies starting in this crop year. Chemtura Crop Protection, the Connecticut company that holds the registration on Crown, and UAP announced the new agreement in a release Tuesday. The fungicide is used to control lentil and chickpea diseases […] Read more
Marketing funded for dairy test kits
A new diagnostic kit to test vitamin A and D content in fortified milk and other dairy products will get almost $1 million in federal funding to help see it through the marketing phase. SciMed Technologies of Edmonton has developed VitaKit A and VitaKit D, which the company says will allow dairy processors to reliably, […] Read more
Farm groups want review of “runaway” rail costs
Pointing to what they say is over $100 million per year in “unreasonably excessive” railway revenue at farmers’ expense, Western Canada’s general farm organizations want Ottawa to conduct a full rail costing review for the first time in 16 years. At a press conference Tuesday just outside Winnipeg, spokesmen for the Canadian Federation of Agriculture […] Read more
Beet ethanol proposal may leave P.E.I.: CBC
A proposal to make ethanol from Prince Edward Island sugar beets may go elsewhere following a report that suggests it would take up at least all the province’s non-potato cropland, according to CBC. The broadcaster quoted Ron Coles of Atlantec BioEnergy saying the company’s $85 million proposal for the Borden area, for which it had […] Read more
Canada behind on ag land stewardship: report
Current public policy in Canada largely overlooks the wealth of ecological goods and services available in its working farmland, a new report from the Canada West Foundation suggests. The foundation’s report, released Thursday, said other jurisdictions” “relatively new” public policy tools “have the potential to correct this oversight by simultaneously protecting farmland, supporting rural communities, […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
