Quebec’s agriculture minister has tabled a new provincial government bill to raise the legal status of domestic and farmed animals in the province beyond that of “furniture.” Pierre Paradis on Friday introduced Bill 54 in the provincial assembly, with the stated goal of enshrining animals in Quebec’s Civil Code as sentient beings — that is, feeling and […] Read more
Quebec plans new legal status for animals
Rural Alberta students promote ag in Calgary
Acme high school students became teachers for a day
Reading Time: < 1 minute Two high school students from Acme — Monique Uittenbogerd and Maria Penner — recently became teachers for the day, educating over 100 Little Green Thumbs elementary students in Calgary about life on the farm. The Little Green Thumbs program is part of Ag for Life’s educational outreach efforts and informs 5,000 students across Alberta about […] Read more
Pearce: GFO goes informative rather than inflammatory
It’s not that farmers in Ontario aren’t frustrated and angry concerning legislation aimed at curbing the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments. They are. However, during a protest Friday in front of Ontario Deputy Premier Deb Matthews’ riding office in London, executives with the Grain Farmers of Ontario and roughly 35 farmers took a more proactive […] Read more
Farm and Country editor John Phillips, 88
A memorial is scheduled Saturday in Toronto for journalist John Phillips, who served 25 years as editor of the Ontario farming journal Farm and Country. Phillips died “peacefully” Wednesday at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga at age 88, according to his obituary. According to Farm and Country’s successor magazine Better Farming, Phillips was the now-defunct […] Read more
Que. pledges reserve to backstop risk management programs
Quebec’s agriculture ministry plans to set up a $300 million reserve fund to backstop any sudden shortfalls in provincial risk management program funds for farmers. Speaking Thursday to the provincial pork producer group, Les Eleveurs de porcs du Quebec, Agriculture Minister Pierre Paradis said the province will set up the reserve over the next two […] Read more
U.S. EPA proposing temporary pesticide-free zones for honeybees
Reuters — U.S. environmental regulators on Thursday proposed a rule that would create temporary pesticide-free zones to protect commercial honeybees, which are critical to food production and have been dying off at alarming rates. The restrictions are aimed at protecting bees from “pesticides that are acutely toxic” to them, and would cover foliar applications when […] Read more
Number of hungry people worldwide drops below 800M, U.N. says
Rome | Thomson Reuters Foundation –– The number of people in the world still going to bed hungry 15 years after the U.N. placed eradicating hunger and extreme poverty at the top of its Millennium Development Goals has dropped to 795 million, according to a report released on Wednesday. The report by three U.N. agencies […] Read more
Original Grazing School for Women event fast approaching
Registration deadline is June 1
Reading Time: < 1 minute This year’s Original Grazing School for Women includes farm tours, networking events, and sessions on the BSE Surveillance Program, plant identification, grazing in a changing climate, extending the grazing season, record-keeping technology, and a demo on electric fencing. It also includes trips to Luc Tellier Farm and the Iron River Elk Farm along with a […] Read more
Supply-managed sectors bolster defenses against TPP
Reuters — Canadian farmers are stepping up their campaign against a nearly complete Pacific trade pact they fear will destroy protections for local dairy, egg and chicken producers and endanger jobs. Farmers in Quebec, which produces 40 per cent of Canada’s dairy products, ran full-page newspaper advertisements on Tuesday warning Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations threaten […] Read more
CONTEST CLOSED: Farm Progress Show tickets
Editor’s Note: Many, many thanks to everyone who entered, but as much as we wish we had free tickets for everyone, the contest is now closed. Our 50 winners can expect to be notified later today by email, and if all goes well, I’ll have the tickets in the mail by the end of the day. If you’re […] Read more
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