Que. crop insurance payouts, claims down: FAQ

Crop damage claims from Quebec’s 2007 growing season are below the five-year average and crop insurance payouts are also expected to drop from year-earlier levels, the provincial ag lending and insurance agency reported Tuesday. La Financiere agricole du Quebec’s (FAQ) February report on the state of Quebec’s crops describes the 2007 harvest as generally well-played […] Read more

CCA names new chief for CanFax

Rob Leslie, a former rancher and livestock drug sales rep, has been named the new manager of CanFax, the market analysis wing of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. Leslie starts March 3, the CCA said in a release Tuesday. His role will include that of the division’s senior market analyst, as well as advocacy work, representing […] Read more


CFIA finds 12th mad cow

A six-year-old dairy cow from Alberta was confirmed Tuesday as Canada’s latest case of mad cow disease. As in every case since bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was first found in Canada in 2003, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported the animal’s carcass is under agency control and no part of it went into the […] Read more

CWB posts first PRO for 2008-09

Tight supplies of board grains have led the Canadian Wheat Board to post its first 2008-09 pool return outlooks (PROs) in some cases well over 110 per cent higher compared to a year ago. The board’s first PRO for No. 1 Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) 14.5 is set at $399 per tonne, up from […] Read more


Sask. greases wheels for biofuel project funding

Biofuel processing projects in Saskatchewan will have an easier time of getting funding under changes made to the provincial Biofuels Investment Opportunity (SaskBIO) program, the province announced Monday. The changes allow an “eligible community investor” to mean anyone living and doing business in Saskatchewan, rather than anyone living within a 100-km radius of a proposed […] Read more

CWB shortens PPO pricing periods

The Canadian Wheat Board’s effective pricing period for its producer payment option programs will now run from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. (CT) each business day. The CWB said in a bulletin Friday that it made this adjustment “in order to better manage trade risk on these programs.” An exchange-for-physicals can be undertaken to accommodate […] Read more


Mexico, Barbados accept Canadian breeding cattle

The Mexican government has loosened its restrictions on Canadian beef and cattle to allow the import of breeding cattle from Canada. In a release Saturday, the Mexican agriculture department said it will expand Canadian exporters’ market access starting next month to include beef and dairy breeding cattle, as well as previously allowed shipments of beef […] Read more

Feds back GMC value chain centre

The George Morris Centre’s planned Value Chain Management Centre will get some value added through a $1 million federal contribution. The funding was announced Friday in Guelph, where the agriculture think-tank is based. The VCMC, to be located at the centre, is expected to raise awareness and demonstrate the financial and competitive benefits from value […] Read more


Sask. boosts crops’ insured prices for 2008

Among new programs such as coverage for gopher damage, Saskatchewan Crop Insurance will also “substantially” raise its insured prices for 2008, by almost 50 per cent per acre on average. “Our dollar coverage is increasing from a provincial average of $86 per acre in 2007 to $128 per acre in 2008,” provincial Agriculture Minister Bob […] Read more

Ont. cattlemen name new chief

The Ontario Cattlemen’s Association has picked Gord Hardy, a Middlesex County feedlot operator, as its new president. Hardy, an OCA director for southern Ontario since 2000 and most recently the beef producer group’s vice-president, replaces Elgin County cow-calf operator Ian McKillop, who stepped down from the president’s chair. Hardy and his family also grow corn, […] Read more