Greening up Manitoba
Manitoba will plant 22,000 trees this year to lessen the impact of Dutch elm disease in the province.
Manitoba Natural Resources, in co-operation with the National Community Tree Foundation and five municipalities, will plant the trees.
The 22,000 coniferous and deciduous trees will be planted as shelter belts, along streets and in parks in the five communities.
Total cost of the project is about $160,000.
Fertilizer takeover
Cominco Fertilizers has purchased Ag-Bio, the biological research and development arm of Imperial Oil.
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Saskatchewan puts crown land auction on hold
Auctions of Saskatchewan crown lease land are once again on hold.
Ag-Bio develops and utilizes soil bacteria to enhance plant nutrient uptake and increase plant resistance to stress and disease.
The Saskatoon-based company’s 110 employees are at Innovation Place in Saskatoon.
Cominco Fertilizers, of Calgary, is one of North America’s largest fertilizer companies.
Sask. lakes near normal
Levels in most lakes and reservoirs in Saskatchewan are expected to remain normal throughout the summer, said Sask Water officials.
Water levels are expected to vary in the river basins around the province. The amount of water flowing through the South Saskatchewan River is expected to be slightly below normal for the summer, while the North Saskatchewan River is expected to have normal water levels.
McGill wins challenge
The winner of Saskatchewan’s Ag-Challenge was Montreal’s McGill University.
The competition pits agriculture students from Canada and the United States against each other.
The individual research paper competition was won by Nathalle Lavoie of McGill. Second place went to Christian Beaudry of McGill and third place went to Claire Hebert of Laval.
The debate “Should farmers fund all agricultural research” was won by the University of Guelph with the University of Arizona finishing second and Montana State University third.
The team case analysis, how to develop an agricultural biotechnology product, was won by the University of Guelph, with McGill finishing second and the University of Saskatchewan third.
Students representing Montana State University, the University of Arizona, the University of Guelph, McGill University, Laval Universite’, Nova Scotia Agricultural College and the University of Saskatchewan took part.
Research stations join
Agriculture Canada’s Agassiz and Vancouver research stations will be amalgamated to become the Pacific Agriculture Research Centre.
The PARC station will serve the horticulture and field crops, dairy, and poultry industry of the lower mainland of B.C.
Agassiz Station was one of the original five experimental farms founded in 1988.
