Feed manufacturers up against a global shortage of vitamins A and E will be able to temporarily reformulate their products for sale in Canada without a complete rewrite of their product labels. The shortage stems from an Oct. 31 fire during the startup of an aroma chemicals plant operated by global chemical firm BASF in […] Read more
Feed manufacturers to retool recipes under vitamin shortage
CN, CP roll over revenue caps for 2016-17
Canada’s big two railways have both overshot the maximum revenue they’re allowed to keep for ferrying the 2016-17 grain crop off the Prairies. The Canadian Transportation Agency on Thursday issued its annual determination of how much, if any, revenue Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) made over their maximum grain revenue entitlements […] Read more
What does the Sustainable Beef Framework involve?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Even the overview of protocols set out in the Certified Sustainable Beef Framework runs nearly 60 pages. But here are a few of the ‘indicators’ for cattle producers from the five areas that the framework covers: Natural Resources One of the goals is to maintain or enhance water quality. To score 1 (a.k.a. Achievement level), […] Read more
Bovine TB probe’s on-farm testing work complete
On-farm testing work has wrapped on all the cattle herds that supplied animals in the past five years to an Alberta herd that turned up six cases of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in the fall of 2016. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported Tuesday it has completed on-farm testing of those “trace-in” herds, which include […] Read more
Veterinary association lambastes province over ‘intrusion’ on fees
The organization is upset with consumer protection bill that would allow vets to advertise their fees
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the second time in two months, the association representing Alberta’s veterinarians is crying foul and accusing the NDP government of taking short-sighted actions with no consultation. Proposed changes “constitute alarming overreach and intrusion into the veterinary profession’s ability to self-regulate and were made without consultation,” the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association said in a press […] Read more
First the cows, then the grass, and then the soil
Winner of top environmental award for cattle producers says stewardship is a journey that never ends
Reading Time: 2 minutes ‘Sustainable’ isn’t a word that finds a lot of favour with this year’s winner of one of the provincial farm sector’s leading environmental awards. “I prefer to use the word regenerative,” Ian Murray says in a video portraying the work he and wife Carman have done at Shoestring Ranch. “I don’t want our ranch to […] Read more
Richardson buys Winnipeg-area input retailer
An independent crop input retailer is being merged into one of its neighbours near Winnipeg as grain firm Richardson International continues on a retail expansion track. Privately-held Richardson announced Dec. 11 it has closed a deal to buy the retail assets of Bestland Air Ltd. at Starbuck, Man., about 30 km southwest of Winnipeg. Bestland […] Read more
Vancouver port space secured for pulse processor AGT
In need of ready access to West Coast tidewater, Prairie pulse crop processor AGT Food and Ingredients is set to work with the B.C. forestry sector to get it. Regina-based, publicly-traded AGT announced Monday it has reached a long-term terminal services agreement with Fibreco Export Inc., a wood fibre and canola meal exporter majority-owned by […] Read more
Demand is there, but jumping into hops isn’t easy
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you’re wondering if hops might be something you’d like to try, Ontario’s Ag Ministry’s website has a powerpoint primer called Local Hops: A brewing industry. Even though the presentation is barely a year old, Alberta doesn’t even make the list of hops-growing provinces. The owners of Northern Girls Hops west of Edmonton actually started […] Read more
No prison for Saskatchewan rancher over stolen farm equipment
A western Saskatchewan rancher who pleaded guilty in August to charges over the discovery last year of missing tractors, balers and other farm equipment will serve time outside the prison system, Saskatoon media reported Friday. Iain Stables, now 40, was sentenced Friday in Provincial Court in Saskatoon to a conditional term of two years less […] Read more
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