Statistics Canada’s farm product price index (FPPI) for November 2007 rose from the same month in 2006 on the back of escalating crop prices, the agency reported Wednesday. The statistician’s preliminary numbers for November 2007 point to a 3.7 per cent rise in the overall FPPI compared to November 2006, but a 2.6 per cent […] Read more
Crops boost farm product price index
Ont. to fund farm help line, business training
Ontario will dip into a $20 million fund for livestock and horticulture producers to back business training and a phone-in help line. The provincial government on Wednesday said it will direct $300,000 from that funding to the Centre for Rural Leadership. The centre will use the money to identify and deliver “the greatest immediate business […] Read more
N.B. plans $3M loan program for hog farmers
New Brunswick will put up $3 million in loans for its hog farmers over the next two years, the agriculture department announced Wednesday. Citing the rising loonie, the “significant” drop in hog prices and escalating feed and fuel costs, the province said its program “will help stabilize the industry from extremes caused by this ‘perfect […] Read more
CWB calls for higher initials
The Canadian Wheat Board has put in for another increase in the initial payments for 2007-08 wheat, durum and barley. The board reported Monday that it had filed a recommendation with the federal government on Jan. 7 to raise the 2007-08 initials. Ottawa must approve such increases. A CWB initial payment is a portion of […] Read more
Mexico, Canada move toward cattle trade
Mexican and Canadian ag officials are to meet next month to review the “final details” in protocols aimed at restoring trade in live Canadian cattle. Coming out of a meeting with Alberto Cárdenas Jimenez, Mexico’s secretary for agriculture and livestock, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Tuesday that technical officials from the two countries will […] Read more
CN grain revenue up in ’07
Higher revenue per carload of grain helped against “strong headwinds” in Canadian National Railway’s (CN) 2007 fiscal year, the company reported Tuesday. In its year-end financial results for 2007, CN posted full-year net income of $2.16 billion on $7.897 billion in revenues, up from $2.09 billion on $7.929 billion in 2006. For the fourth quarter […] Read more
Cargill to shut two Sask. elevators
Cargill plans to close two grain elevators east of Saskatoon within the next four months and route the business to a larger elevator nearby, the company announced Tuesday. The company has scheduled “discontinuation” of its elevator at Humboldt, Sask., by the end of this month. Its elevator at Aberdeen, about 100 km west of Humboldt, […] Read more
USDA tweaks minimal-risk BSE rules
“Several nonsubstantial changes” in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s BSE regulations will slightly loosen a few remaining export restrictions on Canadian cattle and related products. USDA on Friday announced amendments to its regulations on imports of animals and animal products from regions of “minimal risk” for BSE, or mad cow disease. USDA’s minimal-risk designation currently […] Read more
CWB expands wheat storage program
Sign-up begins today for the Canadian Wheat Board’s expanded wheat storage program, which will offer farmers up to $15 per tonne to store high-quality wheat. The CWB announced on Tuesday that the storage program, in its second year, will be expanded to all delivery points across Western Canada that have access to high-quality spring wheat […] Read more
Quebec’s PMWS aid to roll in February
Quebec’s $17.5 million aid package for hog farmers with herds hit by post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) will include both direct aid, due next month, and interest-free loans, the province announced Tuesday. The aid package, announced in general terms before Christmas, will be in two parts. The first will be direct aid for PMWS-affected hog […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
