Livestock
Reading Time: 2 minutes Producers intending to make silage or bale greenfeed from crops that have been frozen in the field need to take time to ensure that the feed is nitrate-safe. “The threat to livestock from nitrate accumulation in forages is that the nitrates bind with the red blood cells in the blood, reducing the animals’ ability to […] Read more
Take Care With Frozen Feed
Stand Alone Photo – for Sep. 14, 2009
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Listeria report leads to $75M for food safety
Recommendations from the federal government’s independent investigation into the 2008 listeria outbreak will get $75 million in follow-through funds from Ottawa. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq on Friday pledged the funding for investments in Canada’s food safety system. As well, they said the government will “act on all 57 recommendations made […] Read more
Unprofitable hog prices seen likely into 2010
Without a still-unforeseen jump in North American pork exports, or a sudden five to 10 per cent drop in the North American sow herd, it’s seen as likely that below-average prices for live hogs will continue into 2010. Given current reductions in pork exports to China and Russia, the North American sow herd may need […] Read more
Sask. offers deferred principal on livestock loans
Saskatchewan cattle and sheep producers who took out breeder loans under the province’s Livestock Loan Guarantee (LLG) program may now opt to defer principal payments for a year. The province on Friday announced the extension, which Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud said will “help producers address cash flow concerns and purchase feed.” With this extension, producers […] Read more
New assistant named for Ont. ag minister
The new Ontario MPP who effectively ended John Tory’s career in provincial politics has been named as the new parliamentary assistant to Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky. Rick Johnson, who came to the legislature in March after beating then-Progressive Conservative leader John Tory in a byelection in the Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock riding, was named Friday as one […] Read more
Que. rural high-speed fund allows private operators
A Quebec government program supporting municipalities, band councils, non-profits and co-ops wanting to set up rural high-speed Internet service will now allow them to hire the work out to private firms. The Communautes rurales branchees (“Connected rural communities”) program has been tweaked to allow eligible groups to hire private companies to install and operate high-speed […] Read more
U of A increasing share of vet school spots
Students and graduates from the University of Alberta’s ag faculty are increasing their share of the number of veterinary school spaces available to Alberta residents. The U of A’s faculty of agricultural, life and environmental sciences (ALES) said in a release Thursday that out of 20 first-year spaces reserved for Alberta residents at Saskatoon’s Western […] Read more
EFAP plan cuts Man. gov’t in on carbon credits
A Prairie consulting agronomists’ firm warns that Manitoba’s replacement for the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program gives the province a cut of any carbon credits accrued through the farm practices it funds. The province on Sept. 3 made application forms available for the Environmental Farm Action Program (EFAP) and Manitoba Sustainable Agriculture Practices Program (MSAPP), […] Read more
Alta. fed-cattle price insurance now available
Feedlot operators in Alberta can now buy cattle price insurance under a program the province’s farm financing agency has had in the making since last December. Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) confirmed Wednesday that cattle feeders can now get enrolment forms and other details online for its previously-announced cattle price insurance program (CPIP). CPIP, billed […] Read more
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