AGCanada.com here delivers a quick wrapup of a dozen federal and federal/provincial ag-related funding announcements across Canada during the first half of March. March 15 Functional foods, Manitoba: The Manitoba Agri-Health Research Network, a brain trust made up of several research centres meant to “link the health benefits of Prairie-grown and -made foods to diets […] Read more
Following the funding, March 1-15
Editors’ Picks: Cockfighting rooster stabs Calif. man
A central California man fleeing a broken-up cockfight died last week of a stab wound believed to have been made by one of the fighting birds. The Associated Press news service on Monday quoted the coroner’s office in Kern County, in the Bakersfield area north of Los Angeles, as saying Jose Luis Ochoa died about […] Read more
Viterra eyes Montreal grain terminal
Viterra is in talks with the Montreal Port Authority to become the operator of the St. Lawrence Seaway port’s grain terminal. The Regina firm, Canada’s largest grain handler, emphasized in a release Wednesday that “no transaction has been finalized” with the port authority and discussions are ongoing. Viterra’s proposal calls for it to lease the […] Read more
Producer car loader’s CN complaint dismissed by CTA
CN isn’t bound by law to keep or operate a producer car site wherever one exists or a farmer wants one, Canada’s transport regulator has ruled. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) on Wednesday dismissed a level-of-service complaint filed late last year by Cam Goff, a central Saskatchewan farmer and farmer-elected Canadian Wheat Board director. Goff’s […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: Big pickups rise on U.S. theft list
A thirst among vehicle thieves for horsepower and hemis has made pickup trucks a “group to watch” in an annual list of vehicle theft losses and theft rates, as compiled by a U.S. insurers’ group. “In many cases it’s tough to pinpoint exactly why a vehicle becomes a theft target,” Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice-president of […] Read more
Planned biodiesel crusher gets needed Alta. permit
B.C. biofuel maker BioStreet Canada says it’s been granted the provincial environmental permit it needs to move ahead on its planned biodiesel crusher and refinery at Vegreville, Alta. Company president Darrell Michaels described the province’s approval in a release Wednesday as a “significant milestone” for the $210 million project, dubbed Vegreville Energy. BioStreet bills its […] Read more
Ontario Tribunal Orders “Negative Option” For Hog Marketing
Reading Time: 2 minutes An appeal tribunal has overturned an order ending Ontario Pork’s mandatory single desk for hog marketing – but is also telling farmers they don’t have to use it. The ruling Feb. 16 by the province’s Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal reinstates sections of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Regulations that were revoked in […] Read more
BSE Class Actions Seek Merger Into One
Reading Time: 5 minutes Lawyers behind the two remaining class-action suits pitting about 135,000 Canadian cattle producers against Ottawa over losses due to BSE will go to court in April to ask for one last merger. Cameron Pallett, a Toronto lawyer for Ontario producer Bill Sauer, said Feb. 17 that counsel for cattleman Donald Berneche of St-Gabriel de Brandon, […] Read more
Province Waives Fees For Moving Grassers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta cattle producers who temporarily move animals to pastures in Saskatchewan or British Columbia this spring or summer won’t need to pay inspection fees on the way out. The provincial agriculture and rural development department (AARD) said Feb. 17 it will provide a $25,000 grant this year to Livestock Identification Services (LIS) to cover the […] Read more
BSE class actions seek merger into one
Lawyers behind the two remaining class-action suits pitting about 135,000 Canadian cattle producers against Ottawa over losses due to BSE will go to court in April to ask for one last merger. Cameron Pallett, a Toronto lawyer for Ontario producer Bill Sauer, said Wednesday that counsel for cattleman Donald Berneche of St-Gabriel de Brandon, Que. […] Read more