Alberta Farmer Staff

Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta ranchers are expected to have input on an upcoming decision that may change the status of the grizzly bear species in the province. A report released Mar. 9 by the province on the status of grizzly population and habitat will now go to the province’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee (ESCC) to help make a […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Current players in Canada’s beef slaughter and processing sector are among those winning more public funding in the latest federal budget. The agriculture sector generally will continue to rely on the previously budgeted Growing Forward farm program policy framework for federal and provincial funding, but Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s 2010 budget has laid out renewed […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Monsanto Canada plans to give corn growers one warning to keep a refuge of at least 20 per cent in fields of Bt corn, after which it will cut off growers who still don’t comply. The Canadian arm of the U. S. seed and chemical firm announced its new enforcement policy Mar. 1, in the […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Darcy Fitzgerald has been appointed executive director of Alberta Pork, succeeding Paul Hodgman, who announced his retirement last year (see page 50). Fitzgerald, who is well known in livestock circles in the province, assumes his new position May 1. Previously, Fitzgerald was director of industry investments with the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency Ltd. Before […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes While it will mean rigorous testing for much of the 2010 flax crop, the Flax Council of Canada’s plans to get CDC Triffid genetics out of the seed supply now have a place for farmers’ saved seed. Recent testing by the Crop Development Centre (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan has found “extremely low” indicators […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Anational organic growers’ group plans to pick five commodities for a project to see how best to adapt their current on-farm food safety systems to suit organic production. The federal government has pledged almost $50,000 through its Integrated Food Safety Initiative for the Canadian Organic Growers Association (COG) to develop a strategy for determining how […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Awidespread trimming of patronage appointments across a number of federal boards, agencies, commissions and tribunals will include the Canadian Grain Commission and National Farm Products Council. “The reduction of 245 positions from various federal organizations will not affect the delivery of government services in any way,” federal Treasury Board Minister Stockwell Day said in a […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Now back in session after the Olympics, the federal government has announced plans to put the thorny issue of Prairie barley marketing on its agenda. In its throne speech, delivered by Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, the Conservative government said it plans to “ensure the freedom of choice for which Western barley farmers overwhelmingly voted.” The […] Read more