Farmers in Saskatchewan have 44 per cent of the 2007 crop harvested, according to the provincial agriculture department’s weekly crop report for the week of September 2. That’s up from 27 per cent last week, and ahead of the five-year (2002-06) average of 31 per cent combined. All areas of the province experienced good harvest […] Read more
Saskatchewan harvest ahead of curve
Ontario expands RST exemption for farmers
The Ontario government has broadened farmers’ ability to claim exemptions from the province’s eight per cent retail sales tax (RST) to include more equipment and building materials dedicated for on-farm use. The province last week said it would redefine “farming” effective August 28 to allow post-harvest activities such as cleaning, sorting, grading, packing, packaging and […] Read more
ICE taps Hill as WCE chief
IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (ICE) has named the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange’s senior vice-president to step into its retiring president’s shoes. Will Hill replaces Mike Gagne as president and chief operating officer of the WCE. Gagne retired on the August 28 completion of Atlanta-based ICE’s takeover of WCE’s parent firm, WCE Holdings. Hill came to the WCE in […] Read more
Quebec farms gear up for “Portes ouvertes”
Over 100 farms across Quebec are preparing to open their gates to provincial residents during the fifth annual “Portes ouvertes” (“open doors”) day on September 9. The event, organized by l’Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), is an “extraordinary occasion” for Quebecois to familiarize themselves with the different aspects of farming in the province, said provincial […] Read more
Cattle feeders “alarmed” over slaughter capacity loss
The National Cattle Feeders’ Association, a Canadian feedlot owners’ group, yesterday went public with its concerns over recent closures and cutbacks at several meat packing plants and the consequent drop in Canadian beef slaughter capacity. Citing recent shutdowns such as at the Ranchers Beef packing plant in Alberta and the Zenon Billette abattoir in Quebec, […] Read more
Ontario cereal performance trials go online
The Ontario Cereal Crops Committee has launched a new web service,GoCereals.ca, to publish annual performance trial data for wheat, oats and barley. The committee says the new site is an extension of the traditional performance trial fact sheets published by the provincial ministry of agriculture, food and rural affairs. The cereals committee, in a press […] Read more
Tories to appeal CWB ruling
The federal Conservative government has decided to file an appeal of a July 31 Federal Court ruling that rescued the single-desk marketing powers of the Canadian Wheat Board. The government had set August 1 as what it called “Barley Freedom Day,” on which its revised regulations, lifting the CWB’s monopoly marketing powers over exports of […] Read more
Pool rebrands as “Viterra”
Canada’s four Prairie grain pools have made their marriage official, trading in their Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United monikers for a new brand, Viterra. Pronounced “VY-terra,” a word meant to symbolize “life from the land,” the name was officially unveiled today at the rebranded, merged company’s Buffalo Plains high-throughput grain terminal near Regina. “We […] Read more
Nova Scotia names new board, CEO for AgraPoint
Nova Scotia’s acting agriculture minister Ron Chisholm on August 29 named a new board of directors and interim CEO to lead the Crown-operated agricultural consultancy unit AgraPoint International. Chisholm has named George Smith to the CEO spot for one year while the new board becomes familiar with the organization, which contracts on research and projects […] Read more
B.C. expands Century Farms program
British Columbia’s ministry of agriculture and lands has expanded the selection criteria for its Century Farms program that honours the province’s earliest farms. The program honours pioneers with a “Century Farm” designation for those whose farms or ranches have been in the family for 100 years or more. Unitl now, Century Farms were those with […] Read more
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