China to lift bans on Canadian pork

The Chinese government has indicated it will lift its H1N1-related bans on pork and pork products from three Canadian provinces, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday from Beijing. Harper is travelling in China this week with Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade Minister Stockwell Day. The government said in a release that the new […] Read more

B.C. backs farm business advisory services

The British Columbia and federal governments have pledged $965,000 of Growing Forward funding over four years for a farm business advisory services program in the province. “We need to build the business management capacity of our farmers and provide them with the tools and knowledge to do so,” provincial Ag Minister Steve Thomson said in […] Read more


Klassen: Larger supplies anticipated in Canada, U.S.

Dec. 1 — Feeder cattle prices in Western Canada remain soft due to larger available supplies and negative margins in the finishing feedlot sector. Values were $1 to $2 per hundredweight (cwt) lower on average this past week, with cattle merchants reporting additional pressure on the heavier calves. “Tax deferred” buying is starting to step […] Read more

Ont. cattle producer named to FCC board

A southwestern Ontario cattleman with a long resume of service in ag organizations and municipal government has been named to the board of Canada’s federal farm lender. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Monday named Carl Spencer to a three-year term, effective immediately, on the board of directors for Farm Credit Canada. “With more than four […] Read more


Dairy farmers rip Conference Board’s SM report

A report from the Conference Board of Canada painting Canada’s supply-managed dairy sector as a drag on the country’s economic competitiveness ignores managed markets’ benefits in reducing price volatility, according to the national dairy farmers’ body. The Ottawa-based Conference Board, a non-profit research organization serving the private and public sectors, last week released a report […] Read more

B.C. ends split classifications for some farms

British Columbia will change its tax assessment system for farms to end an unloved split classification on certain farm properties. Following a recommendation from the July report of its Farm Assessment Review Panel, the province said Friday it will eliminate the split classification of farm properties on B.C.’s Agriculture Land Reserve (ALR) that aren’t used […] Read more


Guelph research may beef up flu shots for chickens

Research biologists may have found a protein on the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus that chickens’ immune systems can be better trained to attack. University of Guelph pathobiology professor Shayan Sharif, whose team recently published a paper on its findings in the peer-reviewed online journal PLoS One, said the team’s work may not only […] Read more

OVC’s first dean Trevor Lloyd Jones, 100

Veterinarian Dr. Trevor Lloyd Jones, the first dean of the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College and previously Alberta’s first provincial animal pathologist, died Wednesday in Victoria at age 100. Jones came to Canada from the U.K. in 1926, working at the U 5 Ranch at Edgewater, B.C. before deciding on a career in veterinary […] Read more


B.C. horse racing industry under new management

British Columbia’s government has named a horse racing industry management committee to oversee the industry’s finances and marketing. “Across North America, the horse racing industry is confronted with competing entertainment attractions that necessitate new, innovative approaches to this sector,” Social Development Minister Rich Coleman said in a release. “Here in B.C., the province is working […] Read more

Que. farmers targets of $2.9M fraud: RCMP

A Quebec man who allegedly claimed he could use his influence as a federal official to flow grants to farmers to expand into Western Canada has been charged in Trois-Rivieres with two counts of fraud. Kevin Gossellin-Robitaille, 24, of Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, was arrested Nov. 17, according to a release Thursday from Quebec City RCMP’s commercial crime […] Read more