Reading Time: 3 minutes Eugene Whelan will be remembered mostly for his green Stetson, inability to speak either of Canada’s official languages and his cheerleading for the farm community. Too bad because there was a lot more to the former Liberal agriculture minister, who died just weeks after his Conservative counterpart John Wise. He was a lot politically shrewder […] Read more
More than met the eye to Whelan
Private-sector investment needed in wheat research
PRIVATE An agricultural economist says farmers must accept higher cereal seed prices if wheat research is to attract private investment
Reading Time: 2 minutes Wheat research in Canada needs a game-changing development or the crop will become a poor cousin to corn and canola, says Murray Fulton of the University of Saskatchewan. “We need a drastic change in wheat research,” Fulton, chairman at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School, told a conference organized by the Canadian Agriculture Economic Society. Wheat yields […] Read moreJapan opens door wider for Canadian beef
Doubling sales Allowing beef from animals 30 months and younger could double sales to $150 million annually
Reading Time: 2 minutes Japan, the No. 4 customer for Canadian beef, has agreed to accept meat from animals 30 months or younger as of Feb. 1. Shipments had been restricted to meat from cattle 21 months and younger, a safeguard against BSE. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Martin Unrau, president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, told a news […] Read moreReport says supply management hasn’t prevented productivity gains
Shrunk Report says number of dairy farms has fallen by 90 per cent since the late 1960s and the cow herd has fallen from 3.5 million to one million today
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s dairy herd, as well as the number of farms and processors, has contracted at about the same pace as its counterparts in the U.S., Australia, and Europe, says a new report from the George Morris Centre. The main difference is that Canada hasn’t increased milk production as much as other countries have, and due […] Read moreRail bill still coming, minister insists
Reading Time: < 1 minute Transport Minister Denis Lebel says long-promised legislation to balance the market power of the railways and their customers will be introduced this fall. Shippers have expressed concern that a deputy minister shuffle will delay the legislation until next year, when it could be sidelined by a rail costing review already scheduled for 2013. They’re pushing […] Read more
No shipper-railway consensus on service agreements
Progress Jim Dinning says railways and shippers should give his “three-tier” service proposal a chance
Reading Time: 2 minutes Shippers and the railways remain divided on what should be included in federal legislation to improve freight service, says a report presented to Transport Minister Denis Lebel. Jim Dinning, a former Alberta cabinet minister appointed last fall to facilitate discussions between the carriers and their customers on freight service agreements, said some progress was made […] Read moreAgriculture Canada’s budget chopped
Details awaited AAFC facing major cuts but how it will affect farmers is not yet known
Reading Time: 3 minutes Agriculture Canada will have its $3-billion-a-year budget chopped by 10 per cent during the next few years — but details are scarce. Both the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and Grain Growers of Canada said they wouldn’t judge the budget until they learned more about how the reductions will be implemented. “Although on the surface the […] Read moreRitz says CFIA cuts won’t lessen food safety
Reading Time: 2 minutes Budget cuts at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency won’t weaken food safety protection, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “Food safety is a priority for this government,” Ritz told the Commons agriculture committee, adding a big chunk of the planned cost cutting will come from the winding down of the listeria inquiry into the 2008 tainted […] Read more
Take advantage of the the good times: Bonnett
Reading Time: 2 minutes With farm incomes better than they’ve been in a long time, farmers need to take advantage of market opportunities without stretching themselves too thinly, says Ron Bonnett, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. That means doing everything from telling Canadians about the importance of the agri-food industry to the national economy to making sure […] Read more
Ritz promises reformed CFIA will be easier to get along with
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is taking steps to become more accountable to farmers and food processors. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has released new CFIA policies on rights and services that outline its service standards and what the agri-food sector can expect when dealing with the agency. “We know there is always room to improve,” […] Read more
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