Reading Time: < 1 minute There are a few days left to apply for the Canada Summer Jobs Program. The program will pay qualifying businesses (including farms and agribusinesses) up to 75 per cent of the minimum hourly wage to provide summer jobs for people between age 15 and 30. Criteria include having 50 or fewer employees and providing quality […] Read more
Subsidies available for student summer jobs
Deadline for applications is Jan. 29
Pandemic threatens federal field research this year
But crop commissions urge AgCanada to follow example of universities, private researchers
Reading Time: 2 minutes COVID-19 threatens to sideline Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s field, greenhouse and lab research this year, but Prairie wheat and barley commissions that help to fund it want as many projects as possible to go ahead. In a statement issued April 24, AgCanada seemed to all but rule out field work this spring. “In response to […] Read more
Feds provide funding for rail crossing upgrades
Fifteen crossings will get upgrades such as lights, gates, and improved warning systems
Reading Time: < 1 minute The federal government has announced a new $16.5-million Rail Safety Improvement Program for 136 projects across the country, including 33 in Alberta. More than a third of the Alberta projects are for grade crossing closures (13 in Calgary and one at Mile 104.12 of the Maple Creek Subdivision). Fifteen others will see improvements such as adding flashing lights […] Read more
Tax credit for canola checkoffs
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Canola is reminding its members that they can get a tax credit on a portion of the checkoffs they paid in 2017. The Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit allows canola growers to claim the portion of the checkoff used to fund qualifying research. “Farmers are funding research into finding solutions to agronomic […] Read more
Fund set up for family of James Hargrave
Reading Time: < 1 minute A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family of rancher James Hargrave, who died in a vehicle crash while helping to fight wildfires along the Alberta/Saskatchewan border. Hargrave, 34, was chairman of the Alberta Grazing Leaseholders Association and first vice-president of the Western Stock Growers Association. The Walsh-area rancher “was community minded […] Read more
Prairie grain growers have a big stake in NAFTA talks
Trade deal has produced great benefits and can be made even better
Reading Time: 3 minutes The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a boon for Canadian agricultural producers, facilitating cross-border trade and commerce, and fuelling the economic performance and growth of this highly export-driven sector. It has achieved this mainly through the continued reduction of tariffs on agricultural goods, but also through measures addressing non-tariff trade barriers, sanitary and […] Read more
RCMP and Citizens On Patrol make it official
Reading Time: < 1 minute The RCMP and Alberta Citizens On Patrol Association (ACOPA) have officially teamed up. An Alberta RCMP release said the two have co-operated for many years, but deputy commissioner Todd Shean and ACOPA chair Beverley Salomons recently signed an official memorandum of understanding (MOU) which outlines their partnership. Citizens On Patrol is a police-supported, community-led program […] Read more
Here’s a primer on carbon taxes and cap and trade in Canada
Alberta is emulating B.C. with a carbon tax, Ontario and Quebec favour cap and trade, and Saskatchewan opposes carbon pricing
Reading Time: 3 minutes With the federal government’s announcement in October of a national carbon pricing policy, many farmer conversations have turned to what a carbon tax is and how it differs from a cap-and-trade system. The government’s plan requires all provinces and territories to have a price on carbon by 2018. In Western Canada, two provinces — B.C. […] Read more
‘Probably carcinogenic’ needs to be put in context
The risk — if there is one — is small, and the nutritional benefits of red meat are known and are substantial
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association has reviewed the monograph, Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat as published in The Lancet, which summarizes the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) review of red meat and processed meats. The Working Group charged with the review classified consumption of red meat in Group 2A, or “probably […] Read more
New field guide for Prairie pests in Western Canada
Reading Time: < 1 minute Agriculture Canada has a new 152-page full-colour illustrated field guide for managing more than 90 crop and forage pests in Western Canada. Along with diagnostic information for pest species, the guide also helps to identify over 30 natural enemies that prey on or parasitize these pests. The book includes identification characteristics, life cycle, damage or […] Read more
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