A Calgary plant biotech company’s safflowers, already heading toward use as potential factories for new drugs, are part of a new marketing deal for their use in making food supplements. SemBioSys Genetics has previously modified its safflower lines to produce human insulin and a next-generation cardiovascular drug with a goal to commercialize both. The company […] Read more
Biotech safflower moves toward new food market
Sask. hog farmers get new AgriStability TAP
Hog farmers in Saskatchewan will be offered early access to their expected 2008 AgriStability payout under a Targeted Advance Payment (TAP) program announced Thursday. Eligible producers will be contacted “soon” with information on the amounts of their advances and how to receive those payments, the federal agriculture department said in a release. The 2008 program […] Read more
B.C. tightens rules for farm labour contractors
Contractors who provide workers for British Columbia farms could lose their licenses for safety violations under legislation introduced Thursday. Labour Minister Olga Ilich on Thursday introduced amendments to the provincial Employment Standards Act which provide for a farm labour contractor’s license to be cancelled or suspended for violations of WorkSafeBC or Motor Vehicle Act regulations. […] Read more
Alta. names new deputy ag minister
Alberta’s new agriculture and rural development department will have a new top bureaucrat, the province announced Thursday. John Knapp, formerly the assistant deputy minister for the environmental assurance division of the environment ministry, has been named the deputy minister for agriculture and rural development. Knapp, who was one of eight deputy appointments announced Thursday, replaces […] Read more
Agricorp offers new RMP coverage options
Ontario’s grain and oilseed growers can now take their pick of one of four coverage levels under the 2008 Risk Management Program (RMP). Agricorp, which is delivering the three-year support program to Ontario farmers, announced the change in a release Thursday. Unlike the first year of the RMP in 2007, for which farmers paid no […] Read more
Agrotain goes dry
Agrotain, a “stabilized nitrogen” fertilizer, has picked up approval for a dry-concentrate formulation for Canadian farmers. Agrotain’s St. Louis-based manufacturer, Agrotain International, said in a release Tuesday that Agrotain Dry Concentrate (DC) “is now available for sale in the Canadian market” after a review by the fertilizer section of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). […] Read more
Alta. men charged over care of horses
Two men have now been formally charged in an animal care case that’s reached national notoriety after the seizure of 100 horses and other livestock from a northeastern Alberta farm. The Alberta SPCA said in a release Wednesday that Axel Hinz-Schleuter and Dale Huber have been charged under the Animal Protection Act with 12 counts […] Read more
Former CWB director joins Viterra board
A former Canadian Wheat Board director and Alberta Pool executive has been named to grain handler Viterra’s board of directors. Bonnie DuPont, a vice-president with Calgary energy transportation firm Enbridge, was appointed Wednesday to the Viterra board, as was Larry Ruud, an Alberta farmer and farm management consultant. Before joining Enbridge, DuPont was a director […] Read more
Alta. government reunites farm, rural portfolios
The Alberta government will remarry agriculture and rural development into a single ministry, the province announced Wednesday. Premier Ed Stelmach announced a reorganization of several ministries and a cabinet shuffle Wednesday after winning a substantially larger majority government March 3 in his first general election as premier. George Groeneveld, Stelmach’s minister of agriculture and food […] Read more
Viterra posts $41M profit in Q1
Buying Canada’s largest grain handler appears to have been a financially healthy move so far for Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. The company, operating under the name Viterra since its marriage to Agricore United last summer, on Wednesday posted net earnings of $41.2 million on $1.32 billion in sales for the quarter ending Jan. 31. Officially, that’s […] Read more
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