The federal government has pledged a $600,000 contribution to the pulse crop industry’s new strategy to improve domestic transportation for its product. Pulse Canada’s transportation strategy “will allow stakeholders to work together and with government to identify and resolve transportation issues for the pulse and special crops industry,” the government said in a release Thursday. […] Read more
Pulse Canada shipping strategy gets $600K
Vineland hort centre sets up advisory group
Ontario’s Vineland Research and Innovation Centre for horticulture has set up a new stakeholder advisory committee to help keep the centre connected to stakeholders, producers and outside experts’ advice. The not-for-profit centre in Ontario’s Niagara region announced the new advisory committee Thursday as the first of three it plans to establish. This committee is meant […] Read more
SSCA names new president
Laura Reiter of Radisson has been elected the new president of the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association. Reiter, a director with the non-profit producer organization since 2004 and most recently its first vice-president, was its first-ever female director, and thus its first female president, following a vote at the group’s recent annual meeting in Regina. She […] Read more
Man. to review livestock veterinary services
Manitoba has named a task force to review the distribution of — and increased demands on — veterinarians handling livestock in the province. The review will look at how veterinary services are distributed, systems currently in place for early warning and surveillance of both local and foreign animal diseases, and how effectively provincial services are […] Read more
CFIA drops permits for feeding scraps
Hog and poultry producers will no longer need a Canadian Food Inspection Agency permit to feed food products such as stale-dated bread, pasteurized milk and vegetable wastes to their livestock, the agency announced Wednesday. The agency has previously issued permits to livestock producers, albeit very few and all in Eastern Canada, for the feeding of […] Read more
St. Lawrence to freeze tolls through 2010
With an eye to boosting business for the waterway, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. has put a freeze on seaway tolls through its 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons. By holding rates and introducing other incentives, “we are setting the stage for our stakeholders to aggressively seek new business in an era of escalating costs, […] Read more
CPR to challenge new grain revenue cap
A significantly lower retroactive cap on railways’ grain handling revenue for 2007-08 will be challenged, Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) pledged Wednesday. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), which caps the amount of revenue CPR and Canadian National Railway (CN) can keep from the handling of Prairie grain, on Tuesday announced a reduction of $72.2 million in […] Read more
Canada, Jordan start free trade talks
Canada and Jordan on Wednesday officially launched negotiations toward a free trade agreement (FTA) that could boost ag trade between the two countries. A first full round of negotiations between the two nations is planned for April in Amman, Jordan, the federal government said in a release Wednesday. “Negotiations will cover a wide range of […] Read more
Chinese pigs’ legs intercepted: CFIA
A Toronto-area international trading firm has been fined $10,000 over an attempt to bring undeclared pigs’ legs from China into Canada. A guilty plea was entered Jan. 9 on behalf of Merilin International Trading Inc. for violating federal animal health regulations, connected to the import of 1,600 kg of pork legs from China, not declared […] Read more
CTA lowers railways’ Prairie grain revenue caps
The expected lower costs of maintaining grain hopper cars will take a significant bite out of the maximum that Canada’s two mainline railways can charge farmers to move western grain in 2007-08, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ruled Tuesday. The federal quasi-judicial transport tribunal on Tuesday announced a final adjusted volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) […] Read more
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