Many of British Columbia’s dairy producers can expect to have to dump raw milk for the near future as highways and other roads are rendered impassable. The B.C. Milk Marketing Board on Tuesday said milk won’t be picked up until further notice in several areas where roads are closed and/or trucks can’t enter the Lower […] Read more
Road closures mean disposal for B.C. milk
Dairy farmers in Kootenays can still move milk east to Alberta
B.C. rains shut CN, CP mainlines and Highways 1, 7
Repairs already underway, CN says
The effects of rainstorms pelting southern British Columbia’s Interior have reached into the Prairies by effectively cutting off grain traffic to Vancouver. Canadian National Railway said Tuesday that heavy rainfalls in the region have led to mudslides and washouts on its network. Crews are inspecting affected areas and “carrying out repairs which are critical to […] Read more
Conservatives’ Barlow to return as federal ag critic
NDP, Bloc incumbent critics to return
A former agriculture critic for the federal opposition Conservatives will again handle the file when the House of Commons resumes sitting in two weeks. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole on Tuesday named John Barlow, MP for the southwestern Alberta riding of Foothills, as shadow minister for agriculture, agri-food and food security. As ag critic, Barlow replaces […] Read more
Industry and farm organizations fear fertilizer volume cuts
A made-in-Canada approach using 4R proposed as a means for meeting emissions targets
Reading Time: 4 minutes It was a dramatic claim — if Canadian farmers reduce their fertilizer use by the federal government’s proposed 30 per cent, they could lose $48 billion by 2030. It came last month in a release from Fertilizer Canada, which said that, that would be the loss if Canada followed the European model of cutting fertilizer […] Read more
U.S. farm co-op CHS to pay members to enrol in Bayer carbon farming program
Reuters – Agricultural seeds and chemicals supplier Bayer AG is expanding its carbon farming program to members of U.S. farm cooperative CHS Inc, boosting incentives for members to participate in the program, the companies said on Wednesday. The agreement will make it easier for CHS’s 75,000 farmer-members to enrol in Bayer’s Carbon Program, an early […] Read more
Team Alberta calls for more action from the provincial government
The four major crop commissions say the government’s message is that producers will have to rely only on crop insurance
Reading Time: 3 minutes Representatives of Alberta’s four major crop commissions, known as Team Alberta, want producers to know their precarious situation hasn’t been forgotten. On October 13 Team Alberta issued a memo to producers outlining how it “continues to press the provincial government to acknowledge the ongoing situation and find solutions to protect farmers against the mounting risks […] Read more
Edmonton company worming its way into plant food and ag markets
Vermicomposting: The worms turn waste into an increasingly sought-after soil supplement
Reading Time: 5 minutes Note: Her passion for red wigglers is legendary. To date her love letter to vermiculture has sold over 200,000 copies. She was, the Worm Woman from Kalamazoo. Mary Appelhof, a Michigan high school science teacher, is now considered the mother of vermiculture. An environmentalist who saw earthworms as a way to recycle food waste, Appelhof […] Read more
Program measures pasture progress by the numbers
Rather than focus on a theory, Ecological Outcome Verification relies on tracking measurable parameters
Reading Time: 3 minutes Years of researching how to get the most out of the pastures on his southern Ontario beef farm left Cory Van Groningen frustrated. “One book says only take the top sward and leave the rest to regrow; another book says use high-intensity grazing and trample it down; another book says take a third of the […] Read more
Britain, New Zealand strike free trade deal
London/Wellington | Reuters — Britain and New Zealand have reached agreement in principle on a free trade deal designed to reduce tariffs, improve services trade, and take London one step closer to membership in a broader trans-Pacific trade agreement. Prime ministers Boris Johnson and Jacinda Ardern sealed the deal in a Zoom call on Wednesday […] Read more
White House not ruling out a U.S. carbon tax
Option 'not off the table' despite Manchin comment
Washington | Reuters –– The White House on Tuesday said it has not ruled out a carbon tax as a possible option for fighting climate change, even though U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a critical holdout in the closely divided Senate, said he was not discussing the topic in talks about U.S. spending and infrastructure bills. […] Read more