The Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council (MRAC) has revised its funding guidelines to allow eligible applicants to access a maximum $300,000, up from $200,000, in federal ag innovation funds. MRAC, which administers funding in Manitoba for the federal Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program, said in a release that some projects may qualify for additional […] Read more
Manitoba research funding agency boosts cap
Ag Growth offering to raise $45M
Winnipeg’s Ag Growth Income Fund expects to raise $45 million to pay down debt and look at new acquisitions, following an agreement today to sell 1.73 million trust units to a Canadian underwriters’ syndicate. The underwriters are led by TD Securities and include Wellington West, CIBC World Markets and PI Financial. Their agreement, worth $26 […] Read more
4-H Council sheds top-down operating structure
The members of the Canadian 4-H Council have approved new bylaws that are expected to put responsibility for the council’s operations largely in the hands of its staff and place the board in a “visionary” role. Member representatives voted on the change at a special general meeting yesterday. Pending approval (expected by mid-October) from Industry […] Read more
P.E.I. names new deputy ag minister
Brian Douglas has been named as Prince Edward Island’s new deputy minister of agriculture, replacing Wayne Hooper. Douglas has previously worked as the agriculture department’s laboratory manager (1989-2000), manager of farm extension services (2000-02) and director of the agriculture resource division from 20003 until this appointment. He also worked for the provincial environment department as […] Read more
Atlantic Beef deadline flexible: Ghiz
P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz said yesterday he’s willing to extend the deadline past the end of September before making a final decision on the province’s future involvement in the Atlantic Beef Products packing plant. The province has been a minority shareholder since 2002 and also built the waste treatment plant to support the facility, which […] Read more
Ruling may free up jam maker for sale
Well-known Ontario jam maker E.D. Smith today expects that a provincial Superior Court order will clear the path for the income fund’s friendly takeover by a U.S. food processor. The order “rectifies” paperwork dealing with transactions relating to the company’s initial public offering (IPO) as an income trust in 2005, to “correctly reflect the intention […] Read more
B.C. to extend tax breaks for ports
The British Columbia government plans to extend a property tax cap for 20 major West Coast industrial ports for another 10 years to ensure the ports “remain competitive into the future,” the province said yesterday. The Ports Competitiveness Initiative, first introduced in 2003, caps the municipal property tax rates for eligible port facilities and compensates […] Read more
Clock ticking on AAFC consulting service
Time is running down for farmers to take advantage of a federal program that offers business consulting services at a fraction of the usual cost. Chris Ruschowski, regional manager for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) specialized business planning services program, warned farmers in a Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food newsletter this week that the program is […] Read more
Sask. harvest continues ahead of average
Saskatchewan’s 2007 harvest remains ahead of the province’s five-year average despite weather conditions that have further delayed combining for farmers in northern growing regions. Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food said today in its crop report for the week of Sept. 9 that 55 per cent of the 2007 crop has been harvested, compared to the 2002-06 […] Read more
Express SG approved ahead of winter wheat
DuPont Canada said today it has picked up approval for its Group 2 herbicide Express SG to be used with glyphosate as a burnoff before seeding winter wheat. DuPont cereals and oilseeds product manager Travis Schoonbaert said farmers who want to control broadleaf weeds such as dandelion, narrow-leaved hawk’s beard, stinkweed and volunteer canola before […] Read more
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