Two farms in southwestern Saskatchewan have been added to the list of those under federal quarantine as inspectors widen their search for cattle exposed to a new-to-Canada strain of bovine tuberculosis (TB). As of Thursday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it had “approximately 33” farms in Alberta and two in Saskatchewan under quarantine. The […] Read more
Bovine TB quarantines push into Saskatchewan
Cool, wet weather continues to slow harvest
Alberta crop conditions as of November 1
Reading Time: 2 minutes Although the province did not receive much precipitation over the last week, continued cool, wet weather conditions were enough to slow down harvest progress. Provincially, about 76 per cent of crops are in the bin, 14 per cent swathed and 10 per cent still standing. Producers in the Southern, Central and North East Regions were […] Read more
Bovine TB case probed in southeastern Alberta
About 30 farms in southeastern Alberta are under federal quarantine as federal and provincial officials try to track down cattle exposed to bovine tuberculosis (TB). The investigation follows a notice in late September from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that a cow from Alberta had tested positive for bovine TB at a U.S. slaughter plant. […] Read more
New Holland buying into tillage equipment market
U.S. ag equipment giant New Holland is set to enter the tillage equipment business and stretch out its space in the hay and forage market, with a deal for Danish manufacturer Kongskilde Industries. New Holland’s parent CNH Industrial on Monday announced it will buy Kongskilde’s agricultural “grass and soil” business from Dansk Landbrugs Grovvareselskab (DLG […] Read more
Harvest progress a struggle, unmelted snow remains
Alberta crop conditions as of October 25
Reading Time: < 1 minute Harvest progress continues to struggle as it improved by only a little more than one percentage point over the past week to 74.5 per cent complete and up only five percentage points over the last three weeks. Normally, harvest should be 95 per cent completed or better in all regions by this time period in […] Read more
EU probe to hold up ChemChina’s acquisition of Syngenta
Brussels | Reuters — European Union antitrust regulators on Friday opened an in-depth investigation into state-owned Chinese chemicals group ChemChina’s US$43 billion bid for Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta, China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition. Syngenta’s shares plunged over nine per cent on Monday after the European Commission said the companies had not allayed its concerns […] Read more
Rising feed grain prices set to hit seasonal plateau
CNS Canada –– Feed barley bids in Alberta have shown some strength over the past few weeks, but may be nearing their highs if seasonal price trends come into play. Barley in the key cattle feeding area of Lethbridge, Alta. is currently trading at about $170 per tonne, up by about $10 over the past […] Read more
Australian bidders gatecrash deal for country’s biggest landholding
Sydney | Reuters — Four of Australia’s wealthiest outback cattle families plan to make the first entirely domestic offer to buy S.Kidman and Co, the country’s largest private landholding, paying more than a rival bid of A$365 million (C$370.1 million), two of the quartet said. Kidman has already accepted a joint offer by Australia’s richest […] Read more
Saskatchewan to thin out wolf pack along treeline
Aiming to prevent “wolf-livestock conflicts” in the region, Saskatchewan’s environment department will again offer a wolf hunting season along the provincial forest fringe starting Saturday. The wolf hunt, running from Oct. 15, 2016 through to March 31, 2017, is to be allowed in wildlife management zones 43 (Melfort, Tisdale), 47 (North Battleford, Turtleford), 48 (Preeceville, […] Read more
Harvest halted. Snow flattens crops, covers swaths
Alberta crop conditions as of October 11
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to the long term normal (since 1960), most areas in Alberta experienced more snow for this time of the year than is typical. Over the past week, harvest has come to a halt due to snow flattening crops and covering swaths, followed by cold weather. It will take time for crops to dry up […] Read more