MarketsFarm — Grain movement in Western Canada remains faced with significant difficulties, according to Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corp., which monitors rail traffic and vessel movements in Canada. February’s cold snap resulted in grain movement across the region falling below its three-year average. The most pressing issue has been a shortage of grain to […] Read more
Grain shortage, cold snap cause delays at West Coast ports
'...the vessels continue to arrive'
Will the future be electric or driven by canola?
New fuel standard will give canola a major boost, but electric vehicles are a rival
Reading Time: 4 minutes Biofuels aren’t the only clean energy game in town, and a hoped-for boost for canola as a biofuel feedstock might be tempered by a surge in demand for electric vehicles. In December, the federal government released details of its Clean Fuel Standard, which ups the amount of biofuel in diesel. That prompted predictions it could […] Read more
Ford recalling older-model Rangers over airbag inflators
Deaths, injuries linked to faulty inflators
Washington | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. is recalling 153,000 older trucks that may have had obsolete Takata air bag modules installed in collision and theft repairs after the Takata recall was completed, the automaker said on Thursday. The second-largest U.S. automaker identified about 8,800 Ford Ranger 2004-06 trucks in Canada and 144,340 in the […] Read more
Issues with Class 1 driver licensing
Reading Time: < 1 minute “Issues with training and testing” continue to plague farmers and farm workers trying to obtain Class 1 Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) equivalency, say the province’s big four crop commissions. The equivalency allows Class 3 drivers (with at least two years of experience) to get their Class 1 licence needed to drive a tractor trailer […] Read more
Rodeo, sports and arts groups getting provincial aid
Reading Time: 2 minutes Performing arts, sports and rodeo organizations will get $17 million in provincial aid. The groups have been “hard hit” by the pandemic as they’ve lost their revenue but still have ongoing overhead costs, the government said. The $12-million Stabilize Program will provide one-time grants to cover up to 25 per cent of eligible expenses of […] Read more
MARA getting ‘much-needed’ new digs
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Mackenzie Applied Research Association is getting a “much-needed” agronomy centre and repair shop at its Fort Vermilion site. Half of the funds for the $600,000 facility have been raised by local producers and half is being contributed by the Western Grains Research Foundation. “Our current research and workshop facility is antiquated and very expensive […] Read more
Being prepared has proven its worth — but there’s more to be done
Opportunity awaits, but farmers need to focus on three key areas, says ag lender
Reading Time: 3 minutes Supply shortages. Conflicting information. Ever-changing rules and regulations. Financial insecurity. Uncertainty plagued the early days of the pandemic, but Canadian farmers just kept rolling with the punches. “If I look back, I think the industry showed a lot of resiliency,” said Ryan Riese, national director of agriculture for RBC. “It showed that it was prepared […] Read more
Cash-strapped pot producers raise billions in market rally
Cannabis firms seen as down in the weeds until recent surge
Reuters — A political shift in the United States has unlocked an estimated US$1.38 billion jackpot for struggling pot producers who have cashed in on a surge in their shares since President Joe Biden’s election in November. Cannabis producers have issued stock worth this amount in the first five weeks of 2021, investment firm Viridian […] Read more
Halt new coal policy and consult, says Alberta Beef
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Beef Producers says it is “frustrated with the limited public engagement” conducted by the provincial government regarding open-pit coal extraction in the province’s eastern slopes. ABP’s board has passed a resolution calling on the government to reinstate the former coal development policy (put in place in 1976 but quietly rescinded last summer) “until proper […] Read more
Opinion: It’s time to finally address the lack of diversity in agriculture
Overcoming sexism and racism can’t be something we just talk about — bold action is needed
Reading Time: 3 minutes Agriculture can no longer afford — literally — to be a non-inclusive industry. As we look bravely to 2021, hopefully burgeoned by plentiful crops and improved grain prices, it seems fitting to assess where our sector is at when it comes to our most important resource — people — and where we intend to go. […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
