Application packages are expected to be available late next week for Ontario beekeepers to seek compensation for the past year’s “higher than normal” bee colony death losses. Before Friday’s loss of a confidence motion in the legislature, which sends Ontario voters to the polls June 12, the provincial government on Wednesday announced “one-time financial assistance” […] Read more
Ontario preparing bee loss compensation
Twitter forum highlights pest issues for Alberta producers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Wheat midge and Bertha armyworm top the list of insects to be on the watch for this spring, says insect management specialists Scott Meers and Shelley Barkley. Dry conditions in the U.S. High Plains could also see a northward migration of pests, the duo said in their first #ABbugchat of the growing season. The two […] Read more
SW Ont. tobacco farmers arrested in black-market probe
Farmers and brokers in southwestern Ontario’s tobacco sector are among nine people arrested for alleged roles in a black-market network for domestic tobacco. RCMP at London, Ont. on Friday reported the arrests, along with six executed search warrants and seizures of tobacco, equipment and street drugs, wrapping up a week of “numerous” operations in the […] Read more
Saving seed should be a right, not a privilege
Reading Time: 2 minutes Why should there be a law giving us a privilege now when for thousands of years this was a right that no one questioned? That is downgrading that right and the first step to taking it away. Will the next omnibus bill grant us the privilege to eat breakfast and the one after that grant […] Read more
Louis Dreyfus launches level-of-service action against CN
The Canadian grain arm of commodities giant Louis Dreyfus plans to bring Canadian National Railway (CN) up before federal regulators to answer for the railway’s level of grain service. No one from Louis Dreyfus Commodities was available by press time Monday to talk about the company’s formal complaint to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) against CN. […] Read more
Maple Leaf books Q1 loss under PEDv cost pressure
A rise in pork prices due mainly to porcine epidemic diarrhea’s effects on the U.S. hog herd has bit deeper into Maple Leaf Foods’ bottom line for its first quarter ending March 31. “Pork markets have been impacted in an unprecedented way due to a virus in the U.S. hog industry, which has renewed pressure […] Read more
Internal trade panel rips Que. limits on edible oil products
Quebec has been given until the end of the year to repeal provincial laws that have effectively banned sales in that province of edible oil dairy substitutes, such as some margarines and non-dairy creamers. The sections of Quebec’s Food Products Act and related regulations in question were shot down in a ruling Wednesday by a […] Read more
Rules to be tightened for halal label claims
Labels, packaging and/or advertising billing food sold in Canada as certified halal will soon be required to include the name of the food’s certifying body. The federal government last week announced amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations, meant to provide consumers with “assurances that (halal) food meets a certifying body’s standard.” The amendments, published […] Read more
Three questions from Alberta cattle producers: Question #1
What’s the fallout from COOL?
Reading Time: 2 minutes EDITOR’S NOTE: We asked a sampling of producers what was on their mind as they were headed into the growing season, and then reporters Alexis Kienlen and Jennifer Blair went looking for answers. COOLing prices Lethbridge-area stockman Andrew Goodrich asks, “Given the strong cattle prices and ongoing exports to the United States, is country-of-origin labelling […] Read more
What’s on your mind? Question #1 from Alberta Farmer readers
Carry-out and wheat prices
Reading Time: 2 minutes EDITOR’S NOTE: We asked a sampling of producers what was on their mind as they were headed into the growing season, and then reporters Alexis Kienlen and Jennifer Blair went looking for answers. Bin buster Bentley-area grain producer Jason Lenz asks, “How will the large carry-over affect new-crop wheat prices?” It’s the world market that sets […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
