N.S. puts feed-in-tariff program on hold

Nova Scotia will stop taking applications for its local-level renewable electricity program pending a review. The province on Thursday announced seven new approvals under its Community Feed-In Tariff (COMFIT) program, but also that it will “pause and evaluate” the program. The pause, the province said, is meant to see that COMFIT “continues to be community-based, […] Read more

BiXSCO CEO Hubert Lau (l) and executive vice-president Ted Power.

BIXS gets the fix it needs

News Roundup from the January 2015 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Identification BIXS fix No more beta tests, pilots, soft launches or sequels. It’s full bore ahead for Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS) from here on in. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and ViewTrak Technologies are teaming up to form a new company with the provisional name of BIXSCO, that will work with industry partners to take BIXS to […] Read more


Ont. boosts rewards for standardbred racehorses

Standardbred racehorse breeders in Ontario are hailing what they describe as a $12 million boost to the province’s Standardbred Improvement Program. The Ontario Racing Commission approved the program’s budget and elements earlier this week, pledging almost $16 million in purses for 2015 and just over $2 million in “Ontario Bred” and “Ontario Sired” rewards. The […] Read more



Ontario farm registration streamlined

Ontario farmers filling out their farm business registration (FBR) forms in the next few weeks can look forward to five years of not doing so. Agricorp, the province’s farm programming delivery agency, noted in a statement that while all farmers in Ontario are required to complete the FBR form in 2015, the process has been […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Federal funding pledged for crop market development work

Canadian crop commodity groups getting federal AgriMarketing funding plan to put the money to work over five years — not just in salesmanship, but in developing their crops’ story for potential customers. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made two five-year funding announcements during the CropSphere 2015 conference Tuesday and Wednesday in Saskatoon: over $3.3 million […] Read more



(Photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Farrowing barn is Quebec’s ninth PED case

Animal health officials in Quebec’s Monteregie have confirmed three more hog operations with cases of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) since Friday. The province’s swine health team (EQSP) said Friday it had confirmed PED in hogs at a 2,700-head nursery operation at St-Aime, with an epidemiological link to the province’s sixth case at a nearby nursery […] Read more