DRESDEN, Ont. – Initial success in introducing a tropical crop to Ontario greenhouses has encouraged an entrepreneur to expand his business. George Scott of SRI Inc. at Wainfleet, Ont., said the Canadian market is already large enough for 42 acres of fresh market bitter melon, and he’s moving ahead with plans to set up a […] Read more
Stories by Jeffrey Carter
Ont. hog producers weigh marketing options
MITCHELL, Ont. – If Ontario hog farmers were to become solely responsible for supplying the Ontario market with pork, the province’s current sow herd wouldn’t be able to meet the demand. Ontario has nearly 40 percent of Canada’s population but slightly more than 25 percent of the country’s pork production capacity. The numbers weren’t lost […] Read more
Ag notes
Commission appointment The Canadian Grain Commission has reappointed Henri Tousignant as assistant commissioner for the eastern region for a three-year term. He will handle inquiries from producers and the grain industry and publicize commission activities. Tousignant has years of experience in private and public sector positions. He owned a construction and engineering business and a […] Read more
Ag Notes
Pork award winners The 2005 Banff Pork Seminar has announced the three winners of this year’s F. X. Aherne Prize for Innovative Pork Production. They are Don and Nancy Lidster of White Fox, Sask.; Rocky Morrill of Peace Pork Inc. of Falher, Alta., and Shokry Rashwan of Puratone Company in Niverville, Man. The Lidsters are […] Read more
Seed corn firm eyes Western Canada
WOODSTOCK, Ont. – Seed companies are hoping to write a new chapter in the corn story as the crop makes inroads in Western Canada. “There was a group of corn dealers and growers from Manitoba here who wanted to go through our plot,” Derek Freitag of Monsanto said of his company’s “evolution of corn” plot […] Read more
Ag Notes
Fieldmen honoured LETHBRIDGE – The Association of Alberta Agricultural Fieldmen honoured three members with honourary life memberships at the 2004 provincial Agricultural Service Board conference. John Vanden Broeke retired last year from the County of Lethbridge after 26 years of work for the service board. Bryan Phillips is manager for Cardston County and worked for […] Read more
Ag Notes
Stamp of approval Agricore United’s 46 high throughput elevators across the Prairies have qualified for an internationally recognized quality standard system. The standard, ISO 9001:2000, means Agricore United has met an international set of standards and adopted a quality management system that meets the standard’s requirements. To qualify, facility employees must document the procedures of […] Read more
Lean pigs handle stress differently
SHAKESPEARE, Ont. – Two genetic lines of lean pigs may perform equally well under ideal conditions, but raise the stress level and farmers will find that some lean lines are better than others. Calling the phenomenon “environmental sensitivity,” Allan Schinckel of Purdue University told a hog production seminar in Shakespeare on Feb. 20 that a […] Read more
Volcanic deposits give soil calcium charge
SUDBURY, Ont. – Remains from a volcanic deposit near Sudbury, Ont., are being spread on North American farmland as a mineral-rich soil amendment. Agricultural Mineral Prospectors Inc. plans to sell 15,000 tonnes of Spanish River carbonatite this year to farmers in Ontario and the United States. Miners-turned-farmers John Slack and Chris Caron say that will […] Read more
