Princeton, Ore. | Reuters — A group of self-styled militiamen occupied the headquarters of a U.S. wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon to protest the imminent jailing of two ranchers, officials said Sunday, in the latest skirmish over federal land management in the U.S. West. The occupation, which began on Saturday, followed a march in Burns, […] Read more
Protesters occupy Oregon wildlife refuge as rangeland dispute flares
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Drilling down into production costs
AgriProfit$ is a free program that breaks down cost of production for every enterprise on a farm
Reading Time: 2 minutes Enrolment for this year’s AgriProfit$ program is open until the middle of January. “With changes in today’s environment and economy, there seems to be renewed interest in building business plans, following cost of production and getting adequate returns for that production,” said provincial research analyst Pauline Van Biert. “The AgriProfit$ is a business analysis program […] Read more
Korea’s temporary ban on Canadian beef lifted
South Korea’s temporary ban on imports of Canadian beef and veal, imposed after Canada’s discovery of a 19th case of BSE in February, has been lifted as of Wednesday. Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the Korean government’s decision Thursday. South Korea had re-imposed its ban on Canadian beef after the […] Read more
Saudi’s SALIC looking for land in Sudan for fodder
Dubai | Reuters — Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Co. (SALIC), an arm of the state-owned Public Investment Fund, is looking to buy land in Sudan to grow fodder, chief executive Abdullah Aldubaikhi said in an interview on Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV on Thursday. He was speaking the day after the company announced it had signed […] Read more
U.S. hog herd slowly expands as farmer profit shrinks
Reuters — The U.S. hog herd grew slightly in the September-November quarter versus a year ago, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed on Wednesday, amid increased supplies as the industry recovers from a deadly pig virus hurt that farmer profit, said analysts. “Concern about profitability was a major issue. What kept producers from really […] Read more
U.S. meat cases awash with Christmas hams at bargain
Chicago | Reuters –– Shoppers preparing to feast on ham for Christmas can do so without breaking their budget, thanks to record amounts of pork as the industry rebounds from a deadly pig virus, said analysts following the government’s monthly cold storage report on Tuesday. Christmas is the top-ranked holiday for eating ham, followed by […] Read more
Wild bees seen dwindling in main U.S. crop regions
Washington | Reuters — Wild bees, crucial pollinators for many crops, are on the decline in some of the main agricultural regions of the U.S., according to scientists who produced the first national map of bee populations and identified numerous trouble spots. The researchers on Monday cited 139 counties as especially worrisome, with wild bee […] Read more
Every item of the feast has a great story behind it
When the table is set, give thanks to those who grew and processed the food — and all those who played a role in its history
Reading Time: 4 minutes My son gifts me a subscription to a Quebec-based cuisine magazine entitled Ricardo. The last issue had a little sidebar that read, “If you calculate the time elapsed from the moment seeds are sown, the festive meal takes an average of 295 days to land on our tables.” When you think about great meals in […] Read more
Composting fastest and cheapest way to deal with deadstock
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the fastest and cheapest ways to dispose of deadstock is to compost them — and you can even do it in winter. “As soon as your compost heats up to 40 C, it doesn’t smell like a carcass anymore… it’s not,” said Kim Stanford, a beef research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. […] Read more
Clock ticking to avoid North American food fight
Winnipeg | Reuters –– The North American spat pitting Canada and Mexico against the U.S. over meat labels has sown confusion among producers and shippers in all three countries, with a trade war potentially just weeks away. The World Trade Organization on Monday authorized Canada and Mexico, the biggest markets for exported U.S. goods, to […] Read more