Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Wheat Commission has “come a long way” since its founding five years ago, says the organization’s general manager. In a website posting, Tom Steve pointed to Alberta Wheat’s “robust research portfolio focused on genetics and agronomic performance” that has nearly 40 projects on initiatives such as higher-yielding varieties, fusarium resistance, premium-quality winter wheat, […] Read more
Alberta Wheat Commission turns five years old
Ex-agriculture minister Gerry Ritz quits Commons
Gerry Ritz, the federal minister for agriculture and agri-food for nine years in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, is done with federal politics. The MP for the western Saskatchewan riding of Battlefords-Lloydminster since 1997, Ritz announced via Twitter Thursday morning that he “will not be returning to my seat in the House of Commons this fall.” […] Read more
FCC pledges flexibility for soaked Ontario, Quebec growers
Canada’s federal ag lending agency has announced a customer support program to limit “financial pressure” on its farming clients in rain-soaked areas of western Quebec and eastern Ontario. Farm Credit Canada on Wednesday announced the program, in which it said it “will work with customers to come up with solutions for their operation(s) to reduce […] Read more
Lethbridge scientist wins beef industry’s outstanding researcher award
Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein is an internationally recognized expert on cattle welfare and behaviour
Reading Time: 2 minutes Agriculture Canada researcher Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein is the winner of the 2017 Canadian Beef Industry Award for Outstanding Research and Innovation. The senior research scientist at the Lethbridge Research Centre is an internationally recognized expert on cattle welfare and behaviour. Her research also includes work on early disease detection, feeding behaviour, stress assessment, and acidosis, as […] Read more
Processors also part of the sustainable beef plan
Along with animal welfare and food safety, indicators cover worker safety and community involvement
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beef processors will also have their own set of ‘indicators’ for producing sustainable beef. The Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef has 19 indicators for processors, covering areas such as natural resource management; people and community; animal health and welfare; food security and efficiency; and innovation. Grades, scored out of three, will be given to specifics […] Read more
Federal Tories look east for ag critic
The federal Conservatives have tapped one of their rookie Quebec MPs as the new agriculture critic for Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Andrew Scheer, elected in May as the Tories’ new leader, on Wednesday announced his first shadow cabinet with Luc Berthold, the MP for Megantic-L’Erable, as agriculture and agri-food critic and John Barlow, MP for […] Read more
Clubroot ‘heavily’ infests NW Saskatchewan field
Clubroot has made its presence known in the far northwest of Saskatchewan’s canola-growing region, with the discovery of a “heavily infested” field. SaskCanola on Monday reported the discovery of the disease in a field in crop district 9B, but didn’t give its specific location. District 9B is a group of 16 rural municipalities east of […] Read more
Saskatchewan rancher pleads guilty over stolen ag equipment
A western Saskatchewan cattle rancher has pled guilty on 18 charges over the discovery last year of tractors, balers and other farm equipment reported missing in the region, according to Saskatoon media. Iain Stables, 39, of the RM of Montrose entered guilty pleas in Provincial Court in Saskatoon Monday on 17 counts of possession of […] Read more
Koch to seek Saskatchewan Party leadership
A long-time Prairie agriculture policy player who last year became Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall’s seniormost bureaucrat has joined the race to replace him. Alanna Koch, who farms with her husband at Edenwold, Sask., about 40 km northeast of Regina, announced her candidacy Monday for the leadership of the province’s governing Saskatchewan Party. Koch was the […] Read more
Richardson buying two Alberta crop input retailers
Two independent crop input retailers in northeastern Alberta will become part of Richardson Pioneer’s ag retail chain starting Friday. Richardson on Monday announced it will buy Webb’s Crop Services Ltd. at Vermilion and Agro Guys Inc. at Forestburg, about 165 km southwest of Vermilion, for undisclosed sums. Both deals are expected to close Thursday, with […] Read more
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