Beleaguered Toronto pet food maker Menu Foods is describing its first fiscal quarter as a “significant turnaround.” The income trust posted a net loss of $2.2 million on $55.6 million in sales during the quarter ending March 31, an improvement over a $17.5 million loss on $64.5 million in the year-earlier period. The company was […] Read more
Menu Foods posts smaller loss in Q1
CWB calling in all feed barley
The Canadian Wheat Board wants all feed barley growers to work with their local elevators to deliver by May 26. In a notice to farmers Thursday, the board said that to meet its sales commitments, it needs barley growers to delivery 100 per cent of their feed barley tonnes by that date, after which it […] Read more
Viterra to move Alta. oat processing
Viterra has the racehorse feed market in mind as it renovates its seed cleaning plant at Camrose, Alta., southeast of Edmonton, for processing and cleaning specialty oats. After this $3.5 million conversion, announced Thursday, the plant will be able to process oat products including double cleaned, triple cleaned, Royal oats, crimped/rolled oats and oat groats, […] Read more
Sow cull program to spread out funds
The federal cull program for breeding swine is moving into a second phase to spread out remaining funds across all provinces. The Canadian Pork Council, which operates the $50 million program, said Thursday that in this second phase, funds will go only to hog farmers in provinces that haven’t yet met the target of cutting […] Read more
N.B. boosts ag investments in budget
The New Brunswick government plans to budget an extra $1 million for “strategic investments” in its agriculture and aquaculture sectors. Agriculture Minister Ron Ouellette announced the funds Thursday as part of the ag and aquaculture department’s $37.6 million ordinary, capital and loans advances accounts budget for 2008-09. “The additional funding of $1 million will help […] Read more
CGC cuts to cost farmers, ex-commissioners say
Former commissioners from the Canadian Grain Commission say cuts to farmer protection and grain quality programming will hurt farmers and Canada’s reputation for quality grain. In a press release Wednesday, former commissioner Albert Schatzke and ex-assistant commissioners Donna Welke and Bob Douglas presented a spending forecast from the federal government that describes the budget for […] Read more
Canola crusher inks supply deal with Viterra
A Toronto company proposing a new method for getting oil out of canola seed has reached a long-term canola supply deal with Viterra. Bio-Extraction Inc., also known as BioExx, said it plans to build a processing plant at Saskatoon using a process that it says will recover more quality oil than traditional solvent extraction or […] Read more
Leave workers’ comp coverage optional: KAP
Manitoba’s farmers shouldn’t have to take on mandatory coverage by the province’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), its general farm group said Wednesday. In a media commentary, Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Ian Wishart said the family farm is a “unique workplace” in comparison to almost all other industries and doesn’t warrant a “one-size-fits-all” approach to […] Read more
Feed supplement’s gain claim approved
Bio-Mos, a supplement for hog and poultry feeds, has picked up Canadian Food Inspection Agency approval for its claims on gain. The product’s manufacturer, U.S. animal feed firm Alltech, announced Wednesday that CFIA had approved its description for Bio-Mos, specifically: “Bio-Mos is a yeast cell wall supplement for swine, broiler and turkey feeds, improving efficiency […] Read more
Headline Duo goes dry
Headline Duo, a co-packaging of pyraclostrobin and boscalid fungicides to control resistant strains of ascochyta in chickpea crops, will have a dry formulation for the 2008 season. The product’s manufacturers, BASF Canada, announced Tuesday that Headline Duo’s dry formulation will have an “optimized ratio” of each active ingredient in a single jug. BASF first introduced […] Read more
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