Manitoba’s government has pledged over $1 million for research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the province’s farming sector. The first funding block of $150,000 from that pledge was earmarked Wednesday for five projects at the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment, a University of Manitoba research centre south of Winnipeg. The new research […] Read more
Man. to fund on-farm GHG reduction research
Viterra launches new juncea canola
Farmers in drier areas of the Prairies “not typically suited to canola production” can expect to benefit from a new juncea canola available through grain company Viterra. Available in “limited quantities” for the 2009 season, Xceed juncea canola was bred by Viterra to meet the need for growers to diversify their rotation and still produce […] Read more
Que. backs farm work to clear lake’s algae
The Quebec government plans to put up $600,000 over three years to fund improvements on farms in the Lake Temiscouata watershed, in hopes of helping to clear the lake’s blue-green algae problem. The lake, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region near the province’s borders with Maine and New Brunswick, has about 100 farms on its watershed that […] Read more
B.C. farm tax panel co-chair replaced, again
British Columbia’s panel to review what constitutes a “farm” for municipal tax purposes must again replace its co-chair at about a third of the way through its assignment. Okanagan-Westside MLA Rick Thorpe, who was named co-chair in July, has stepped down from the provincial Farm Assessment Review Panel due to personal health reasons, the province […] Read more
Bloc eyes income stability in ag platform
Tax breaks, boosts to ag income stabilization and, as expected, a defense of supply management are among the planks in the Bloc Quebecois’ agricultural platform for the Oct. 14 federal election. Joined by six other Bloc candidates, party leader Gilles Duceppe and the BQ caucus’ ag critic, Andre Bellavance, outlined the party’s ag platform Friday […] Read more
CPR’s U.S. Midwest play gets approval
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has granted Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) regulatory approval to buy control of the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Corp. Calgary-based CPR, which announced the ruling in a release Tuesday, noted that the board “denied all requests for conditions other than those agreed to voluntarily by (CPR)” and that the board’s […] Read more
Rain hinders Man. harvest, Sask. chugs ahead
Saskatchewan farmers have again steamed ahead of their five-year average pace for harvesting, while harvests in central and eastern Manitoba ground — or more accurately, squished — to a halt. Widespread rains stopped harvest for much of last week in Manitoba’s south-central and southeastern regions and in its already waterlogged Interlake region between Lake Manitoba […] Read more
NDP goes green in ag platform
Funding for organic farming, “green” farming, farmer co-ops and farm safety nets are on Jack Layton’s to-fund list in the New Democratic Party’s new agriculture platform. NDP leader Layton released the party’s full platform Sunday in Toronto, with just over two weeks before a federal election. Among other points, the NDP’s platform proposes a series […] Read more
Yukon to consolidate land management
The Yukon government plans to shift its land planning branch to its energy, mines and resources (EMR) department to “improve the disposition of land” to territory residents. That branch, now part of the community services department, will move to EMR effective April 1, 2009, the government said in a release Monday. EMR’s sustainable resources division […] Read more
Natural Valley Farms in receivership: reports
Natural Valley Farms, one of several bids in the wake of BSE to boost beef slaughter capacity on the eastern Prairies, has gone into receivership, according to Saskatchewan media reports last week. CBC Saskatchewan on Thursday quoted company director Henry Skjerven as saying investors lost control of the company after it defaulted on a loan […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
