The Maritime provinces’ agriculture ministers agreed today to speed up negotiations aimed at saving the region’s only federally-inspected beef slaughter facility. Meeting in Moncton, the ministers from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island reviewed a series of reports on the history and current status of the Atlantic Beef Products plant, which was founded […] Read more
Ag ministers “optimistic” on Atlantic Beef plant
Ag fairs eligible for new heritage funding
Community agricultural fairs celebrating special anniversaries may qualify for up to $200,000 in new federal infrastructure cash, according to a national fairs group. Speaking Wednesday in Halifax, Heritage Minister Josee Verner announced $30 million, as earmarked in the last federal budget, to support arts and heritage events at the community level, including a new Building […] Read more
Ottawa puts up $500M for non-grain biofuels
A new government-backed fund will help bankroll demonstration-scale projects to make biofuels from sources other than food or feed grains. Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) on Wednesday announced it will disburse $500 million in repayable federal government funding for up to 40 per cent of eligible project costs on any “first-of-a-kind” large demonstration-scale facility that […] Read more
Input dealers name new executive director
The Independent Dealers Entrepreneurial Association (IDEA), a Saskatoon-based group of locally-owned crop input retailers, has named Nipawin, Sask. farm consultant Bob Evans as its new executive director. Evans, who has previously done advisory work for the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers and is rostered with the Canadian Farm Business Advisory Service to provide subsidized counselling for […] Read more
N.S. won’t fund Atlantic Beef plant
Ag department officials in Nova Scotia who have studied the latest feasibility report on the Atlantic Beef Products packing plant in P.E.I. are advising their government not to put up cash to sustain the plant, CBC News reported today. CBC quoted Nova Scotia Agriculture Minister Brooke Taylor as saying Thursday that while the plant is […] Read more
P.E.I. names point person for potatoes
Going beyond the traditional ag extension duties of its potato specialists, Prince Edward Island has created the role of a potato industry co-ordinator. Rachel Cheverie, the province’s integrated pest management (IPM) specialist at Charlottetown for the past eight years, has been appointed to the new role, which will include co-ordination of potato sector research and […] Read more
N.S. gears up for Open Farm Day
Forty farms in Nova Scotia will open their doors to the public during the province’s annual Open Farm Day on Sept. 23. The day will be based on the theme of “Buy Local…Eat Fresh,” in keeping with the province’s new Select Nova Scotia campaign to encourage consumers to buy locally-grown or -raised products where available. […] Read more
Dairy giant buys Manitoba flax processor
An Irish multinational dairy foods and nutritional ingredients firm has bought Manitoba flax processor Pizzey’s Milling for an undisclosed sum. Glanbia plc, through its U.S. subsidiary Glanbia Nutritionals, said it plans to use its research and marketing structure to develop the international market for the flax ingredients Pizzey’s produces. The company, a family business operated […] Read more
B.C. expands home-grown school snack program
British Columbia today expanded its school fruit and vegetable snack program to 164 schools, providing B.C.-grown fruit and vegetables as occasional snacks for up to 57,000 students. The program, which started as a pilot in 2006 with 10 schools and expanded in January to 51, is delivered by the B.C. Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation […] Read more
NFU calls for hike in CWB initials
The National Farmers Union is appealing to Ottawa to authorize a raise in initial prices for Prairie wheat, durum and barley for 2007-08. The federal government has responsibility for setting the initials, which are then posted by the Canadian Wheat Board. The CWB — which will review and recommend adjustment payments if market conditions and […] Read more
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