Reading Time: < 1 minute A tough, semi-woody perennial plant native to Europe and Asia, absinthe wormwood typically grows in stems and forms in a clumping habit. The most distinguishing feature of the plant is its finely divided leaves combined with a silvery-grey colour. Absinthe wormwood also has a very strong and distinct odour which is very similar to sage. […] Read more
You won’t raise a glass to this invasive weed
Noxious Weeds: Absinthe wormwood
Alberta recruits new board for AFSC
Alberta’s provincial government has named a new board of directors to its farm financing and crop insurance agency, to replace the board it fired last year. Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier on Thursday announced the appointment of a new eight-member board for the provincial Agriculture Financial Services Corp., (AFSC), which has been handled by an interim […] Read more
Klassen: Renewed confidence lifts feeder cattle market
Western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $3-$5 above week-ago levels on average; stronger buying interest was noted on short-keep cattle with prices quoted $5 to as much as $8 higher. Feedlot operators stepped forward more aggressively with ideas that yearling supplies will dwindle over the next month. Quality cattle are starting to thin out at […] Read more
Saskatchewan budget seen as costly touch for farms
Saskatchewan’s general farm organization is consulting its farmer members on less-discussed features of last month’s provincial budget, while warning them to brace for impact from new budget-related costs. The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan last Monday wrapped up its latest round of spring district meetings, at all six of which APAS general manager Duane Haave […] Read more
Historic Alberta ranch to be preserved as cattle operation
Reading Time: 2 minutes One of Alberta’s oldest ranches will remain a working operation thanks to a conservation agreement with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. When it was founded in 1882, Oxley Ranch covered 200,000 acres, making it one of the four largest ranches in the foothills. The remaining 2,266 acres will now be preserved from cultivation, drainage of […] Read more
China clears ChemChina’s Syngenta deal
Zurich | Reuters — ChemChina’s US$43 billion planned takeover of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta has received approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the two companies said Wednesday. “This represents a further step towards the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2017,” they said […] Read more
Manitoba pulls less-loved ag tax credits in budget
More funding for agriculture innovation in Manitoba’s latest provincial budget will be offset in part by an immediate end for several of the less popular tax credits available for farm use. Provincial Finance Minister Cameron Friesen on Tuesday laid out a 2017-18 budget with an overall $840 million deficit, based on a four per cent […] Read more
Brandt buys Saskatoon power generating equipment plant
Tractor and equipment manufacturer Brandt expects to double its manufacturing footprint — and expand into new equipment lines — after closing a deal for a major Saskatchewan plant site specializing in power generation machinery. The Regina-based company on Friday announced it had closed its deal to buy the former Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Canada facility […] Read more
Minnesota finds source of Palmer amaranth on CRP land
Reuters — An invasive weed likely entered Minnesota through seed planted on land in a U.S. conservation program, state agriculture officials said on Thursday, bringing to a close an official probe of a growing threat to agricultural production. Infestations of the weed, Palmer amaranth, have affected other states in the U.S. Midwest through seed planted […] Read more
Palmer amaranth threatening U.S. corn fields
Winterset, Iowa | Reuters — A U.S. government program designed to convert farmland to wildlife habitat has triggered the spread of a fast-growing weed that threatens to strangle crops in America’s rural heartland. The weed is hard to kill and, if left unchecked, destroys as much as 91 per cent of corn on infested land, […] Read more