Farm Credit Canada has posted another increase in the number and total dollar amount of new loans to farmers in its 2007-08 fiscal year. In its annual report, released Thursday, the federal ag lending agency listed $4.28 billion in new loans for the year ending March 31, up from $3.71 billion in 2006-07. That’s spread […] Read more
New loans up at Farm Credit
P.E.I. cuts farm building assessments
Farm buildings used to produce pork, beef or potatoes on Prince Edward Island will get an immediate 25 per cent depreciation in their assessment for tax purposes, the province announced Thursday. “We’ve been hearing many producers are having a tough time,” said provincial treasurer Wes Sheridan in a release. “We’re aware there has been a […] Read more
Alta. bison wanted to test mobile abattoir
Researchers in Alberta are looking for four bison farms or feedlots to help test the effects of on-farm slaughter, using a mobile abattoir, on meat quality and animal stress. The provincial and federal ag departments and Olds College are collaborating on a study that will study bison for pre-slaughter stress and the quality of the […] Read more
Ont. county looks to build bio-processing hub
The Ontario government plans to put almost $900,000 into a rural development plan for a county to focus on farming, making and processing bioproducts such as biofuel, chemicals and functional foods. The province’s $896,815 investment, announced Thursday, will go toward an “ag-industrial development framework” for the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry. “This project […] Read more
Sask. hail claims “unprecedented”: report
Hail insurance providers in Saskatchewan have been “inundated” with claims in the past two weeks, with some companies reporting an “unprecedented” level of activity. In a report released Thursday, the Canadian Crop Hail Association said the number of hail claims filed in Saskatchewan as of July 15 had topped 6,800, about double the normal number […] Read more
Milk price hikes defeat sector growth: GMC
Efforts to grow Canada’s dairy sector are likely to be stymied as long as dairy producers can simply raise the price they get for industrial milk, according to a new report from the George Morris Centre. The Canadian Dairy Commission on July 11 approved an unscheduled $1.45 per hectolitre increase in industrial milk prices effective […] Read more
Viterra, GSU meet with mediator
Grain company Viterra and members of the Grain Services Union went back to talks Tuesday with a federally-appointed mediator with an eye toward ending a week-old labour dispute. Almost 200 workers at the Regina head office of Canada’s largest grain handler have been picketing since July 7. GSU members working at Viterra have been without […] Read more
SeCan GM named CSTA president
SeCan general manager Jeff Reid has been elected the new president of the Canadian Seed Trade Association. Reid, based at SeCan’s Kanata, Ont. head office, was previously a manager at C&M Seeds of Palmerston, Ont. Reid said in a CSTA release Wednesday coming out of the association’s meeting in St. John’s that he plans to […] Read more
Alta. names MLAs to land-use committee
Long-term tasks outlined in Alberta’s new Land-Use Framework will be spearheaded by a new committee of MLAs, the provincial government announced Tuesday. Evan Berger, the MLA for Livingstone-Macleod, parliamentary assistant for sustainable resource development and a former reeve of the M.D. of Willow Creek, will chair the committee. The committee’s other MLA members are Jonathan […] Read more
Quaker Oats triples U of S research funding
Oat researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have picked up a new three-year, $1.6 million funding commitment from Pepsi-QTG Canada, owners of the Quaker Oats business in Canada. The Quaker funding, which according to oat breeder Brian Rossnagel triples the company’s annual commitment from its previous five-year deal with the U of S, will be […] Read more
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