Crops
Grapevine, Tex. | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to put out a proposal that will address Renewable Fuels Standards for 2014, 2015 and 2016 this spring, an agency official at an industry conference in Grapevine, Tex., said Thursday. The agency will address all three years at once and plans to look at […] Read more
U.S. EPA to propose biofuels standards this spring
Repair, inspection staff at CN prep for strike vote
Locomotive and rail car maintenance, repair and inspection staff at Canadian National Railway (CN) plan to take a strike vote early next week, their union said Thursday. Unifor, the largest union at CN with over 4,800 members, said Thursday it will hold the vote over a period of up to three weeks, and would set […] Read more
Double-cropping project aims to cut Indian lentil imports
Researchers on a project in India and Bangladesh say they hope it will greatly reduce their lentil imports. Farmers in the project are growing lentils in fields left fallow after rice harvests, with the help of a research and training project by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). In a […] Read more
Mustard acres expected to soften slightly in 2015
CNS Canada — Canadian mustard seeds could be vying for attention this spring from some of their more lucrative rivals, the chairman of the Saskatchewan Mustard Seed Development Commission predicts. “I would say mustard acres would be down a little bit from the previous year just based on the profit potential for other crops,” said […] Read more
USDA sees reduced U.S. plantings of corn, soy, wheat in 2015-16
Washington | Reuters –– U.S. farmers will plant fewer acres of soybeans, corn, wheat and cotton in the 2015-16 marketing year in response to falling prices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday. At its annual Agricultural Outlook conference, USDA forecast lower prices for most major U.S. crops following bumper harvests in 2014-15. “Consecutive […] Read more
Canola checkoff brings tax credit
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta canola growers who don’t request a checkoff refund qualify for a tax credit for the 2014 tax year. The Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit allows growers to claim the tax credit for the portion of the checkoff paid used to fund qualifying research. The rate for Alberta canola producers in 2014 is […] Read more
Large unpriced corn, soy stocks seen overhanging Chicago futures
CNS Canada — Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn and soybean futures saw choppy activity over the past week but large unpriced supplies of both commodities, held by farmers across the U.S. Midwest, will keep the long-term bias pointed lower, one analyst says. One trader said a lack of fundamental news and strength in the […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola reaching its upper range
CNS Canada — The ICE Futures Canada canola market moved higher during the week ended Wednesday, taking some direction from advances seen in Chicago soybean futures. But the market seems to be moving into its upper range and could be vulnerable to a downward correction going forward, according to Ken Ball of PI Financial in […] Read more
Markert new chair of canola producers commission
Reading Time: < 1 minute Vulcan producer Lee Markert is the new chairman of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission. He succeeds Colin Felstad. Greg Sears of Sexsmith was elected to serve as vice-chairman. Also joining the board are three directors acclaimed in October. Steve Marshman of Strathmore will replace Elaine Bellamy in Region 8, Dale Uglem of Bawlf will replace […] Read more
It’s a family affair: Two commission chairs in one household
Allison Ammeter is the new chair of Alberta Pulse Growers and her husband Mike fills the same role for the Alberta Barley Commission
Reading Time: 3 minutes They don’t keep records on these sorts of things, but Allison and Mike Ammeter are likely the first Canadian farm couple to each chair a provincial crop commission. Allison became chair of Alberta Pulse Growers at the organization’s annual general meeting at FarmTech, six weeks after Mike became chair of the Alberta Barley Commission. The […] Read more