Montreal feed additive firm Lallemand Animal Nutrition has opened a new centre of excellence in ruminant research to develop next-generation probiotics for livestock. The company, whose parent specializes in developing yeast- and bacteria-based products for the feed, pharmaceutical, baking and winemaking industries, opened the centre at Montreal’s Biotechnology Research Institute (BRI), a federally-owned facility providing […] Read more
Lallemand opens Montreal probiotic feed lab
“Product of Canada” rules kick in Dec. 31
New guidelines for food manufacturers who use the terms “Product of Canada” and “Made in Canada” will apply to foods produced after Dec. 31 this year, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced Tuesday. “By the end of the year, if a food is labelled ‘Product of Canada,’ this government is making sure that food is Canadian […] Read more
Payments, new programs swamp AgriCorp: report
Ill-equipped as AgriCorp may be for all the ag support programs and payments it’s been asked to handle in recent years, the Ontario agency should continue to do the job, according to the province’s auditor general. Auditor General Jim McCarter’s special report on AgriCorp, requested by provincial Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky and released Tuesday, finds […] Read more
Norwegian fertilizer firm to buy Saskferco
Norwegian fertilizer and chemical company Yara International has signed on to buy nitrogen manufacturer Saskferco for $1.6 billion, the Saskatchewan company’s owners announced Monday. Saskferco’s joint owners, Minnesota-based potash and phosphate firm Mosaic and Investment Saskatchewan, a provincial Crown investment company, will sell their stakes pending federal regulatory approval in a deal that’s expected to […] Read more
Quebec to flow culled pork to food banks
The Quebec government will put up $400,000 to direct 300,000 kg of pork from hogs slaughtered through the federal cull program to 18 food banks in the province. Dr. Alain Poirier, the province’s director of public health, said in a release Monday that while the $50 million federal program covers the slaughter of surplus breeding […] Read more
Rain improves Sask. crops, soaks Manitoba
Crops in Saskatchewan and parts of southwestern Manitoba sorely needed last week’s rain, but most of the rest of Manitoba is soggy and could now use warmer, sunnier weather. Topsoil moisture on Saskatchewan cropland last week stood at 76 per cent adequate, up from 48 per cent the week before, the provincial ag ministry said […] Read more
Funds on tap for N.B. maple sugar stands
Details and application forms will be available online Tuesday for New Brunswick maple sugar producers to get funding to help thin their stands for better production. The $300,000 sugar bush silviculture program, first announced in May, will provide up to $5,000 per producer at a rate of $500 per hectare for “approved thinning activities.” Those […] Read more
Aleutian disease funds in for Nfld. ranchers
Mink ranchers in Newfoundland and Labrador can now apply for funding to improve on-farm biosecurity under a provincial Aleutian disease management program. “Under this program, eligible operators can access up to $200,000 to implement biosecurity measures to manage and/or protect against Aleutian disease,” said Kathy Dunderdale, minister for the provincial Forestry and Agrifoods Agency, in […] Read more
Provinces, Ottawa complete $1.3B ag framework
Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial ag ministers have officially completed their multilateral Growing Forward farm policy framework, committing $1.3 billion in cost-shared funding over the next five years. Split 60/40 between Ottawa and the provinces, the $1.3 billion covers programming other than for farm business risk management (BRM), and is up $330 million from the […] Read more
Sask. Ag probes “financial irregularity”
Saskatchewan’s agriculture ministry has fired an employee and called in the RCMP as it investigates a $20,000 “financial irregularity.” The ministry gave few details in a statement Thursday, other than to say one employee had been dismissed and preliminary results of its own internal investigation show the estimated total amount involved to be about $20,000. […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
