CORRECTED, Feb. 28, 2017 — The Newfoundland and Labrador government plans to boost the amount of land available to the province’s farmers by allocating more Crown land for development. The province’s Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agrifoods announced Thursday it has now identified 62 “agriculture areas of interest” to date, totalling about 158,150 acres. The […] Read more
Newfoundland expands Crown land base for farming
FCC launches new loan for young agri-businesspeople
Canada’s federal farm lending agency is expanding its loan offerings in agribusiness and agrifood with a new program aimed at young businesspeople. Farm Credit Canada’s Young Entrepreneur Loan, launched Thursday in Ottawa during Canada Agriculture Day celebrations, will offer financing of up to $1 million per qualified applicant under age 40, at closed variable rates […] Read more
Top tips for vaccinating
Storage, the injection route, and when you administer a vaccine are all key, says Dr. Nathan Erickson
Reading Time: 2 minutes Time it right A vaccine needs to match the immune response of the cattle to the vaccine and the period of greatest risk. “So for BVD, the risk period is the first three months of gestation, while IBR, lepto, and vibrio, they tend to be a little bit later in gestation — around four months,” […] Read more
Judge free trade by what we have lost
Farmers’ share of food profits has declined as has rural Canada’s economy, while farm debt and food imports have gone up
Reading Time: 3 minutes Over the decades since the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and later, NAFTA, was signed, Canadian agriculture has undergone a significant shift. There was once a multitude of diverse local and regional economic drivers, but now we have a “one-size-fits-all” export-driven, low-priced commodity production model. Farm capital needs have skyrocketed as illustrated by the massive […] Read more
Dairy sector still working toward ingredients strategy
The Canadian dairy industry has missed a self-imposed deadline for the Feb. 1 implementation of a national ingredients strategy — but work continues toward that implementation. The strategy is meant to create a lower-priced class of milk, Class 7, to encourage the use of skim milk powder in further-processed ingredients. Ontario has already independently implemented […] Read more
EU, Canada secure clearance to kick-start free trade deal
Strasbourg | Reuters — The European Union and Canada secured clearance on Wednesday for their contentious free trade deal and the removal of import duties that supporters say will boost growth and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. The two parties can claim a success for their open markets policy after months of protest […] Read more
A+W books sales growth despite Prairie ‘challenges’
Canadian burger and root beer chain A+W has chalked up another year of same-store sales growth despite “economic challenges” in the Alberta and Saskatchewan markets. Posting its year-end results on Tuesday, A+W’s Vancouver-based income fund reported same-store sales growth of 3.4 per cent in 2016 over 2015, down from a 7.6 per cent sales growth […] Read more
‘Mini-harvest’ likely to weigh on feed grains
CNS Canada –– Seasonal lows in the Western Canadian feed grain market may stick around longer than normal this year, as the industry awaits the abnormal spring harvest of those fields left to overwinter this year. “The seasonals are fairly consistent,” said Jim Beusekom of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge, adding “we usually see the […] Read more
Despite Trump talk of ‘tweaking’ NAFTA, Canada could still be hurt
Ottawa | Reuters — Although U.S. President Donald Trump says he only wants to tweak trade ties with Canada, his pledge to renegotiate NAFTA to focus on Mexico is almost impossible and Canada will not emerge unscathed, Canadian officials and trade experts said Tuesday. Trump had warm words for Canadian trade following a meeting with […] Read more
Trump expects only ‘tweaking’ of trade relationship with Canada
Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the country would be “tweaking” its trade relationship with Canada, stopping short of calling for a major realignment in a development likely to please visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump has pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) linking the […] Read more