Reading Time: 2 minutes Plan how to stay safe while seeding during COVID-19. Start, of course, by minimizing contact, said Jody Wacowich, executive director of AgSafe Alberta. “If you have a large group, maybe have them come at different points during the morning, so they’re not all together,” she said. But having safety conversations, in one form or another, […] Read more
Add COVID-19 to your safety plan for spring seeding
More cleaning and less sharing of equipment are sensible moves these days
Pitch pays off for startup organic fertilizer maker
Fertilizer made from pea and lentil hulls wins supercluster funding and praise from environment minister
Reading Time: 2 minutes Apitch at an ag innovation forum a year ago has paid dividends for a Vancouver company that wants to make fertilizer out of waste material from pulse processing. Lucent Plant BioSciences and its partners — including pulse trader and processor AGT Foods — is receiving $1.3 million from the protein supercluster to help develop a […] Read more
Alberta Forage Industry Network launching a ‘Kijiji for farmers’
Farming The Web will allow producers to buy and sell hay, livestock and farm equipment
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Alberta Forage Industry Network is creating a new buy-and-sell website for ranchers and farmers. “It’s basically going to be like Kijiji for farmers,” said AFIN director Amber Kenyon. “This will give us a good way to sell our stuff and to be able to buy farm equipment. We’re looking at hay, forage and livestock; […] Read more
Sick employee disrupts slaughter at Harmony Beef
Part of Calgary beef plant shut down after employee who had been off work tested positive for COVID-19
Reading Time: < 1 minute Harmony Beef, a beef processing plant north of Calgary, had to shut part of its operation down March 26 after an employee fell sick. “Alberta Health Services informed us Thursday that an employee who had not been at work for days had a positive test for COVID-19,” company spokesperson Crosbie Cotton said March 27. The […] Read more
Canola producers mark depressing anniversary
One year on, Canada and China seem no closer than ever to resolving canola seed ban
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s been a year since China banned most imports of Canadian canola, and there’s no end in sight. “It’s a very frustrating situation for producers and the industry,” Jim Everson, president of the Canola Council of Canada, said in an interview at the Canadian Crops Convention here. “There are some exports going to China (but) […] Read more
Make food supply chain an essential service, says Alberta’s ag minister
Things are working well and there is no need for hoarding or panic buying, says Devin Dreeshen
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta’s food supply chain is stable and is functioning — but it’s essential to keep goods flowing across the U.S. border, says the province’s agriculture minister. “We have put in an official request to the federal government to deem the entire food supply chain as an essential service to ensure a safe and stable food […] Read more
Canada’s strengths in global trade highlighted at conference
Pandemic has since pushed all other issues out of the spotlight but crops convention highlighted country’s abilities
Reading Time: 3 minutes It was just three weeks ago, but the issues in the spotlight at the Canadian Crops Convention almost seem to be from another age. But the conference was also a reminder that however the coronavirus pandemic changes the landscape, Canada has a lot of people working behind the scenes to ensure trade can take place. […] Read more
No need to ramp up egg production, says official
Some stores are limiting egg sales but the problem is panic buying, not a production shortage
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta egg farmers aren’t planning to ramp up production as the recent surge in egg sales is expected to be temporary. “For us, the shortage this past week was from consumers overbuying,” Egg Farmers of Alberta spokesperson David Webb said March 25. In order to thwart panic buying or hoarding, many grocery stores are limiting […] Read more
Lots of flour to go around, millers’ association says
System is 'doing extremely well' and should have no problem keeping up with demand, CNMA's Gordon Harrison says
The grain supply chain is working as it should during the COVID-19 pandemic, says the president of the Canadian National Millers Association. “From the milling industry vantage point, the movement of grain from farm to the producer to the elevator systems to mills is doing extremely well,” Gordon Harrison said Tuesday. “The grain supply chain […] Read more
Decision on temporary foreign workers a boost for Alberta beekeepers
Beekeepers rely heavily on seasonal agricultural workers and would have had to downsize without them
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government’s decision to allow seasonal agricultural workers into the country is good news for Alberta’s beekeepers. The ag sector had feared border closures would keep out these workers and devastate sectors such as fruit and vegetable production. But Canadian beekeepers also rely on temporary foreign workers — about 1,500 are hired each year […] Read more