Environment Canada is scheduled to release details of its proposed clean fuel standard this week. It is holding meetings with stakeholders in Ottawa, where it will disclose particulars, such as what share of the 30 million tonne reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 will be allocated to each fuel stream. “That’s something that people have […] Read more
News — page 5
Grain supply network performing smoothly
An early harvest slowed farmer deliveries to the elevator, but movement picked up during week four of the new crop year
Canada’s grain handling and transportation systems look to be operating smoothly despite smaller-than-average export shipments during the first month of the 2018-19 crop year. “So far, so good,” said Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corp., the Edmonton company contracted to monitor commercial grain movements in Western Canada. “We were a little bit concerned (in late […] Read more
Potato yields not expected to hit record again
Acreage increased in Manitoba and Alberta this year, but prairie growers are not expecting production to follow suit
The potato acreage may have increased this year in Western Canada, but it doesn’t look like it will be the same for yields. “I think overall, it’s too early to tell because we haven’t started the main harvest, but we are not expecting as big of yield as the last couple of years,” said Dan […] Read more
Alta. town organizes cigarette butt collection
SYLVAN LAKE, Alta. — It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it. The “it” refers to cigarette butt recycling. The central Alberta town of Sylvan Lake has installed 30 cigarette butt collection receptacles along the waterfront this summer and plans to install more throughout the town. The lake is a popular tourist destination […] Read more
Soy boom devours Brazil’s tropical savanna
Permissive land-use policies and cheap farm acreage have helped catapult Brazil into an agricultural superpower
CAMPOS LINDOS, Brazil, (Reuters) — When farmer Julimar Pansera bought land in Brazil’s interior seven years ago, it was blanketed in tiers of fruit trees, twisted shrubs and the occasional palm standing tall in a thicket of undergrowth. He mowed down most of that vegetation, set it ablaze and started planting soybeans. Over the past […] Read more
Controlled fires can prevent wildfires: research
Prescribed burns at a conservation site in Saskatchewan help researchers understand importance of fire on the prairie
Bone-dry conditions have put a damper on further research using fire at Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area in southwestern Saskatchewan. A prescribed burn this fall, organized by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and University of Saskatchewan, was cancelled. “We’re not considering a burn right now. It’s just not safe. It’s […] Read more
Make tough decisions now
The demographics of Canada’s family farms are changing. That means there’s a need for new attitudes toward farm succession planning, said Brent DeKoning, a farm succession expert with Lorkovic Wealth Management. “Over 50 percent of the farmers in Canada are … 55 and older,” DeKoning said during a recent web seminar, sponsored by Farm Management […] Read more
Prairie canola likely avoids frost damage
Mother Nature got hearts racing last week when temperatures dipped below freezing across the Prairies. Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan experienced frost the morning of Sept. 4. The following morning the mercury dropped below zero in a number of locations from the Peace region right through to western Manitoba. About half the crop was still standing […] Read more
Canola, wheat outlook smaller than expected
WINNIPEG (Reuters) — Canadian farmers will harvest less canola and wheat than expected and fall short of last year’s production, an Aug. 30 Statistics Canada report showed. Hot, dry weather across the Prairies was expected to curb yields, although patchy rain left crops in better shape in some areas. In the government’s first report on […] Read more
U.S. wheat growers revive old trade gripe
CHICAGO/DEVILS LAKE, N.D., (Reuters) — Gordon Stoner, who grows wheat in Montana near the Canadian border, would like to sell his wheat to grain elevators in Saskatchewan. However, due to a quirk in Canadian law, the high-protein variety he raises would be automatically downgraded by government inspectors to feed quality. “When I cross the border, […] Read more
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