Limits on ag support payments to larger producers have led “directly” to Saskatchewan’s second largest pork producer filing for bankruptcy protection, according to the provincial pork development board. SaskPork said in a release Wednesday that Stomp Pork Farms (SPF) filed to buy time to develop a new plan and restructure its debt with creditors, while […] Read more
Program caps led Stomp into protection: SaskPork
Yellow mustard beats weeds hardest in study
Yellow mustard, compared and contrasted against other canola and mustard types in a recent Prairie study, comes out on top in terms of suppressing weed growth around it. But the message farmers should take from this three-year plot study, done by federal ag department researchers at sites in Saskatchewan and Alberta, is the wide range […] Read more
Nominees wanted for “Seed of the Year”
SeCan and the University of Guelph want nominations for Seed of the Year, a competition designed to recognize a publicly developed Canadian field crop, forage, fruit, vegetable or herb variety that has made a significant contribution to the agri-food industry. Two separate awards will be given, one for Eastern Canada, and one for Western Canada. […] Read more
B.C. sets up “flexible” biofuel mandate
British Columbia’s government plans legislation that will allow it to set a percentage mandate for renewable and low-carbon content in fuels — but will allow suppliers to decide how best to get there. Energy Minister Richard Neufeld announced the establishment of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Renewable and Low Carbon Fuel Requirements) Act in a news […] Read more
Manitoba ag tire levy takes effect
A new environmental levy on agricultural tires in Manitoba takes effect today to help fund the province’s tire recycling infrastructure. The levy ranges from $4.50 to $15 per new tire sold in the province, based on size, Keystone Agricultural Producers, the province’s general farm group, wrote in a release Tuesday. “Farmers can be sure that […] Read more
P.E.I. ag programs up for communities funding
Prince Edward Island’s government plans to flow some of the $13.7 million it will receive from the federal Community Development Trust toward agriculture programs. Premier Robert Ghiz and Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed P.E.I.’s share of the trust funding in a press release Monday. The federal government’s $1 billion Community Development Trust, launched in January […] Read more
Ontario, Quebec approve APF extensions
The Ontario and Quebec governments signed up Tuesday to officially extend funding for some federal/provincial Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) programming in their provinces. The extension applies to four ag programming pillars of the five-year APF other than the business risk management (BRM) pillar: renewal, innovation, environment and food safety. The federal/provincial APF on agriculture programs’ […] Read more
Viterra officially out of WGRF
The Western Grains Research Foundation board is now officially down two members after the merger of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United. Viterra, the now-merged SaskPool/AU, first told the foundation in December that the company’s governance structure no longer includes a farmer-directed board. That excludes Viterra from WGRF board membership under the foundation’s guidelines. The […] Read more
CFIA approves herb growers’ safety program
The Canadian Herb, Spice and Natural Health Products Coalition has picked up a technical “letter of completion” for its on-farm food safety program, allowing farmer training to begin. The letter comes from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which presented it to the coalition during the Natural Health Products Research Society conference last week in Toronto. […] Read more
Pet food settlement in sight: Menu Foods
Mediation has led to a settlement agreement in principle for the Toronto pet food maker among the companies hit hardest by last year’s pet food scare involving Chinese melamine. Menu Foods announced Tuesday that the parties to a multi-district lawsuit by pet owners in both the U.S. and Canada have reached a “comprehensive, cross-border agreement […] Read more
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