A provincial pilot project allowing licensed hunters to help thin out the wolf packs on behalf of livestock producers in predator-ridden northeastern Saskatchewan will get underway Monday (Sept. 15). Saskatchewan’s environment ministry said Thursday the pilot wolf hunt will run until March 31, 2015, strictly in wildlife management zone (WMZ) 49, which runs south along […] Read more
Sask. wolf hunting pilot starts next week

New Holland to buy sprayer manufacturer Miller
Wisconsin precision spraying equipment maker Miller can expect to break further into the Canadian market following a friendly takeover by New Holland’s farm equipment arm. New Holland’s parent firm CNH Industrial announced a “definitive agreement” last week to buy the assets of Miller-St. Nazianz Inc. for an undisclosed sum. New Holland has had a manufacturing […] Read more

Feds back livestock genetics marketing push
A bid to boost sales of Canadian dairy, sheep and goat genetics in export markets has picked up seven-figure federal funding. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Wednesday announced $1.6 million for the Canadian Livestock Genetics Association (CLGA), mainly to help the association achieve its target of increasing sales and exports of dairy genetics by 10 […] Read more

FNA gauging farmer interest in bid for CWB
Farm input buying group Farmers of North America (FNA) is feeling out Prairie farmers’ appetite for investment in a bid for control of CWB. Saskatoon-based FNA, already in the midst of a plan dubbed “ProjectN” to develop fertilizer manufacturing assets by 2017, last week launched a separate online campaign seeking farmer expressions of support “to […] Read more

Pork probed for links to Alta. E. coli cases
A probe of dozens of cases of E. coli-related illnesses over the summer in Alberta has now led to recalls of certain raw pork cuts and frozen pork products. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Thursday announced recalls of all raw pork products sold by Calgary’s V+T Meat and Food between July 14 and Sept. […] Read more
Dutch potato co-op buys control of Alta. seed firm
Dutch potato breeding co-operative Agrico has stepped up its direct interest in the North American seed potato sector by buying control of one of its major seed dealers. The co-op last week announced it has bought a 21 per cent stake in Parkland Seed Potatoes, raising its ownership to 60 per cent of the Edmonton company. […] Read more

CWB plans new concrete in southern Sask.
The grain company formerly known as the Canadian Wheat Board plans to add to its handle in south-central Saskatchewan with a new concrete-and-steel high-throughput elevator. CWB announced Thursday it will start construction this fall on a 42,000-tonne capacity elevator, plus grain cleaning facilities, on Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) track near Pasqua, Sask., a hamlet about […] Read more

Cargill gains Ont. chocolate plant in deal with ADM
Archer Daniels Midland’s (ADM) exit from the chocolate processing business will see Cargill expand its own chocolate arm in Ontario. The two global grain and agrifood players on Tuesday announced an agreement in which Cargill will buy ADM’s worldwide chocolate business for US$440 million. The sale includes ADM’s chocolate plant at Georgetown, Ont., about 15 […] Read more

Livestock tax deferral expansion open to comment
The federal government’s plan to expand its income tax deferral provisions on breeding livestock to cover bees and horses has entered a month-long public comment period. Then-finance minister Jim Flaherty proposed in February to expand the tax deferral provision as part of his final “Economic Action Plan” budget before his death in April. [Related story] The […] Read more

SW Ontario grain handler to change hands
The family-owned company behind what’s billed as Ontario’s biggest inland grain terminal is set to exit the grain handling business. The owners of Palmerston Grain — which operates from Palmerston, Ont. and handles wheat, corn, soybeans and canola through its 57,000-tonne capacity terminal at nearby Minto — have reached a deal to sell the business […] Read more