Alberta farmers who want the Class 1 license needed to drive commercial-scale tractor trailers but haven’t yet met the new training requirements can now apply for another extension to do so. The provincial transportation department on Friday announced further extensions are now available for farmers and farm workers seeking Class 1 licenses and for school […] Read more
Alberta extends deadline again for farm trucker training
Rookie U.S. House Democrats call for COOL revival
Several new members of the U.S. House of Representatives who’ve pressed for stronger language on labour and environmental standards in the revised North American free trade deal now also want it to include country-of-origin labeling (COOL) on meat. A letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, dated Tuesday and signed by 27 freshman House Democrats, […] Read more
Rain gives farmers relief, for now, from three-year drought
Winnipeg | Reuters — With drought turning Chad Ross’s pastures brown, the southeastern Saskatchewan rancher sent 140 head of cattle to slaughter earlier than usual this spring, as the Prairies’ three-year drought made them too expensive to feed. The ranch and feedlot near Estevan has lost money two straight years. Long-awaited rains that swept the […] Read more
USDA investigates unapproved GMO wheat in Washington state
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed the discovery of unapproved, genetically modified (GM) wheat plants growing in an un-planted agricultural field in Washington state. There was no evidence the wheat had entered the food supply, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement on Friday. The wheat […] Read more
Canada’s realized net farm income way down in 2018
Stagnant farm cash receipts against significant increases in feed, fuel and interest costs have led to Canada’s biggest decline in realized net farm income in over a decade. That’s according to Statistics Canada, which on Tuesday released full-year farm income data for 2018, pegging realized net farm income for the year at $3.9 billion, down […] Read more
Prairie dryness concerns to persist
MarketsFarm — Large areas of Western Canada remain on the dry side, with little moisture in the immediate forecasts. And while it’s still early in the growing season, the interplay of conflicting patterns from the south and north will determine whether the dry areas receive timely precipitation during the growing season. “We are looking at […] Read more
The number of horses infected with West Nile jumps in Alberta
The number of cases nationally more than doubled last year, with more than half in Alberta
Reading Time: 3 minutes West Nile virus is becoming a more serious issue in horses — rates are rising in Alberta and a third of the horses which become infected will die. But there is a way to protect your horses, said veterinarian Melissa Smith of West Wind Veterinary Hospital in Sherwood Park. “There are vaccines available for West […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market finds support
Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded steady to $2 lower while calves traded $3 higher to as much as $8 lower. Adverse weather across much of the U.S. Midwest set a negative tone on both sides of the border. U.S. feeder cattle markets were down US$3-$6 from seven days earlier. Corn futures […] Read more
Alberta crop input retail groups’ deal off
A proposal to bring together two groups of central Alberta crop input retailers has been called off without closing a deal. Crop Management Network (CMN) said Friday the conditional deal it announced in March to buy Performance Ag Group won’t proceed. CMN, a joint venture between an employee-owned network of retail outlets and La Coop […] Read more
Mustard acres to decrease, but yield outlook strong
MarketsFarm — The most recent principal field crop acreage report from Statistics Canada predicts mustard seed area will drop from approximately 500,000 acres to 400,000 in 2019, concentrated mainly in southwestern, south-central, and west-central Saskatchewan. Although fewer acres are expected to be seeded, prime mustard-growing areas in Saskatchewan and Alberta saw precipitation in recent weeks, […] Read more