Ranchers told to watch import levels

ESTEVAN, Sask. – Canadian beef producers need to oppose supplemental imports of beef from non-North American Free Trade Agreement countries, unless these countries pay duty, says longtime industry watcher Charlie Gracey. He said supplements were suspended after BSE, but the minute borders are fully open, they are likely to be an issue again. “It isn’t […] Read more

Natural beef plant to open soon

NEUDORF, Sask. – If all goes well, Natural Valley Farms’ slaughter facility in the Qu’Appelle Valley just south of here will be open for business July 17. Construction is still under way, but at least one potential offshore customer was looking for profit during recent tours and the official opening ceremony. Brett Juong, a beef […] Read more

Program designed for young farmers

A new loan program offered by Farm Credit Canada should ease the transfer of land from one generation to the next, says the lender. Young farmers agree. The accelerator loan is a $50 million program the federal lender launched June 23 at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina. Its key features are that […] Read more


Antiques parade confirms progress – Editorial Notebook

At 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day of every Western Canada Farm Progress Show, most people stop in their tracks. Few can ignore the parade of antique tractors and trucks as it winds its way through the displays of millions of dollars worth of shiny, state-of-the-art equipment and technology. Similarly, the antique tractor pulls […] Read more

Employees, family key to OYF success

Being able to raise their children on the farm is important to Kenton and Pam Possberg. To ensure that, they have to have a successful business and that’s why they’ve put a management plan in place to make Possberg Grain Farms Inc. as efficient and profitable as possible. The couple farm in the Humboldt area, […] Read more


Alpaca owners learn to cut loose

BROADVIEW, Sask. – Richard Bonser wielded his shears in long, steady strokes, removing the alpaca’s heavy fleece as if he had done it hundreds of times. In fact, the Inglis, Man., participant in a shearing school offered by the Saskatchewan Alpaca Breeders Network had never shorn an alpaca before, although he had clipped a handful […] Read more

Two-in-one course attractive

BROADVIEW, Sask. – Jan Bamford and Bob Doull were the first to call about an advertisement for an alpaca shearing and fleece sorting school to be held near Broadview in southeastern Saskatchewan. The couple drove more than 1,200 kilometres to get there from their home in Evansburg, Alta., west of Edmonton. The attraction was being […] Read more

Hasty open border will invite injunction: CCA

ESTEVAN, Sask. – Canadian cattle producers shouldn’t expect to see the Americans’ so-called Rule 2 in 2006. Gregg Doud, chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in Washington, D.C., said there are too many factors at play for the United States to bring in Rule 2 regulations that would allow live Canadian cattle older […] Read more


ID agency concerned about duplication

ESTEVAN, Sask. – Government efforts to establish a national livestock traceability system should not duplicate what the cattle industry established through the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, producers say. Federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers decided about a year ago to establish a national program. A task force was struck last fall and ministers are scheduled […] Read more

Stock-based compensation eligible under revenue cap

Stock-based compensation is a legitimate labour expense that can be used in railway revenue cap calculations, says the Canadian Transportation Agency. In an April 28 decision announcing a 6.6 percent increase in the volume-related composite price index used to establish caps for the 2006-07 crop year, the agency said that type of compensation is similar […] Read more