A long-dormant petition to allow ionizing irradiation as a way to control bacteria and other pathogens in Canadian beef may soon be back on the front burner. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said Monday it expects “in the coming week” to submit paperwork — at the request of Health Canada — that would “reactivate the process” […] Read more
Cattlemen seek restart on approval process for irradiation
Pearce: “Dust-off” in pesticides has farmers’ attention
Widespread concern about bees, and the possible connection to the use of dry lubricants and neonicotinoid insecticides, has been generating a number of responses in the agricultural community. For the past 18 months, media reports have singled out agriculture in general, and seed treatments and the use of insecticides in particular, as a possible cause […] Read more
Eight Mississippi River locks to close due to flood
Eight Mississippi River locks between Muscatine, Iowa, and Clarksville, Missouri, were expected to close beginning on Friday as the rain-swollen waterway rises above flood stage, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday. Corn and soybean prices at Gulf of Mexico export terminals jumped by at least US10 cents a bushel as the closures of […] Read more
Manitoba caps school tax rebate for farmland
Manitoba farmers who get rebates on the education portion of the property taxes paid on farmland will see a lid placed on those rebates starting with this tax year. Finance Minister Stan Struthers’ budget on Tuesday capped Manitoba’s farmland school tax rebate at $5,000 — and also limited it to eligible farmland owners who are […] Read more
Richardson cleared for West Coast terminal expansion
Grain handler Richardson International plans to start work “immediately” on a $120 million, 80,000-tonne storage expansion project at its North Vancouver terminal after getting the go-ahead from Port Metro Vancouver. The Winnipeg company’s expansion, announced in October and billed as “the biggest investment in the Port of Vancouver in more than 20 years,” will see […] Read more
Sask. launches Growing Forward sequel’s programs
Saskatchewan has become the fourth province to sign on for its share of funding in the Growing Forward 2 (GF2) ag policy funding framework, with $388 million to put toward programs other than business risk management (BRM) over the next five years. Provincial Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart and his federal counterpart Gerry Ritz announced the […] Read more
Major Ont. dairy expo plans to upsize in 2014
Operators of the Canadian Dairy Xpo (CDX) say they plan to double the size of the Stratford, Ont. trade show for 2014, following their inaugural event in February. With co-operation from city officials, the 2014 CDX will take on the entire Stratford Rotary Complex, including both hockey rinks, organizers said in a release. A potential […] Read more
B.C. greenhouse growers get permanent carbon tax break
British Columbia’s greenhouse growers will now get a permanent exemption from the bulk of the province’s carbon tax on their natural gas and propane use — with a similar break expected to follow for farm fuels. Telegraphed in the provincial budget in February, the new exemption announced Tuesday will come in the form of grants […] Read more
Satellite’s crop monitoring days may be over
Agricultural users of Canada’s first Earth observation satellite won’t be getting new data from the unit in the near future. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced Tuesday that RADARSAT-1 has entered into “safe mode,” a semi-dormant state to conserve energy, after it “experienced a technical anomaly” on March 29. Entering safe mode buys the CSA’s […] Read more
Third Sask. field joins clubroot club
Saskatchewan’s canola growers have been warned to seed with care as a canola field in west-central Saskatchewan has been confirmed as the third in the province to have clubroot. SaskCanola, the province’s canola development commission, announced Tuesday it had received confirmation from the provincial ag ministry of the new finding, discovered during an annual survey […] Read more
