Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that bankrupt oil companies must clean up inactive wells, overturning lower court decisions that prioritized paying creditors and potentially raising the risks of investment in the industry. The 5-2 ruling means that the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), which had appealed the earlier court decisions, can […] Read more
Bankrupt oil firms must clean up inactive wells, Supreme Court rules
Livestock tax deferral map expands again for 2018
Some northern and southwestern Ontario producers who had to sell breeding livestock due to drought in the 2018 tax year can now defer chunks of the income from those sales when filing their income taxes. The federal government on Wednesday rolled out its final list and map of designated regions for 2018 under its livestock […] Read more
Unusual third assessment run for livestock tax deferrals
In an unusual move, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has undertaken a third assessment for the federal livestock tax deferral. “Federal officials are currently finalizing the analysis to identify whether any additional regions have met the criteria for the livestock tax deferral,” AAFC spokesperson James Watson said. Under the deferral plan, cattle producers affected by severe […] Read more
U.S. judge to allow controversial evidence in Roundup cancer trials
Reuters — A federal judge overseeing lawsuits alleging Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide causes cancer on Monday tentatively allowed pieces of controversial evidence that the company had hoped to exclude from upcoming trials. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria during a hearing in San Francisco federal court called his decision “probably most disappointing for Monsanto,” the Bayer […] Read more
USDA to reopen all farm agency offices
Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday it will reopen all Farm Service Agency offices on Thursday to offer services to farmers and ranchers during the partial government shutdown. Some Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices had been providing limited services since Jan. 17, but the move means all of the agency’s […] Read more
A large weed seed bank is a ‘gift that keeps taking’
No till, chaff collection, forage in rotation, and chemical control all reduce weed pressure
Reading Time: 3 minutes Below the soil surface lurks the weed seed bank — the predominant source of weed pressure on current and future crops. “You do not want to draw on this bank account,” said provincial crop specialist Harry Brook. “It is a source of annual and perennial weeds that will wait for years before the right conditions […] Read more
Rural development strategy sought in federal shuffle
Rural economic development has been given a promotion at the federal level in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest cabinet shuffle. In the shuffle, following the departure of Treasury Board president Scott Brison from cabinet, Trudeau on Monday called up Bernadette Jordan, MP for the southern Nova Scotia riding of South Shore-St.Margaret’s, to head a newly […] Read more
Brazil plans to fight invasions by landless workers
Brasilia | Reuters — Brazil’s right-wing government under President Jair Bolsonaro will seek to classify invasions of farmland by landless workers movements as akin to terrorism, with harsher penalties for perpetrators, an agriculture ministry official said on Monday. Nabhan Garcia, land issues secretary at the ministry, said the government must convince the National Congress to […] Read more
Ag seen gaining on slightly weaker loonie in 2019
CNS Canada — Farm Credit Canada (FCC) predicts the Canadian dollar will spend the year around the 75-U.S. cent mark — slightly softer than last year’s average of 76. “We’re going to see volatility throughout the year obviously but when we look at that season, or the full year average, we’re looking for it to […] Read more
Assure herbicide’s active ingredient under new ownership
Now being put to work in Enlist corn, the active ingredient in Assure II herbicide has a new owner. California-based American Vanguard Corp., the owner of ag chemical producer Amvac Chemical, announced Thursday it has bought the quizalofop-p-ethyl (QPE) product line of herbicides from DowDuPont’s ag division, Corteva Agriscience, for an undisclosed sum. A Group […] Read more