Mary MacArthur

Alberta farmers will lose millions of dollars in crop insurance payouts because projected wheat prices were based on out-of-date Canadian Wheat Board data, says the head of Alberta’s general farm organization. Neil Wagstaff, president of Wild Rose Agricultural Producers, said hundreds of farmers will be out much-needed money because crop insurance payout prices were calculated […] Read more

In an unusual move, Agriculture Canada market analysts were asked to take a second look at what wheat prices would have been on July 31 after Alberta farmers began expressing concerns that crop insurance prices were based on out-of-date prices. “We were asked to take a second look at the prices,” said Glenn Lennox, wheat […] Read more

British Columbia’s agriculture minister has pledged his support for supply management. “Our government strongly supports and endorses the supply management system as it provides producers with fair returns, the consumers with quality products and fair prices, and fosters additional economic activity in our province,” John van Dongen said during a conference call from Victoria. “Producers […] Read more

Assiniboia Livestock Auction, a division of Nilsson Brothers chain of auction markets, has bought the Weyburn Livestock Exchange. Ray Paslawski, owner of the Weyburn auction market that he opened in 1961, said Nilsson Brothers wasn’t his first choice among potential buyers, but the time was right to sell. “I was hoping some farmers would come […] Read more

The 4-H Foundation of Alberta has been hired to disburse hay donated by Ontario farmers to Alberta producers and take the pressure off volunteers who have spent the summer unloading hay. Kevin Sorenson, member of Parliament for Alberta’s Crowfoot constituency, said the 4-H Foundation was seen as a neutral party to administer the distribution of […] Read more

A promising new technology might cut farmers’ nitrogen costs in half without reduced yields, says Eric Rey, chief operating officer of Arcadia BioSciences Inc., which has licensed the technology from an Alberta firm. Researchers have discovered a way of tricking plants into thinking they are hungry, and hungry plants take up nitrogen faster, said Rey […] Read more

Agricore United has postponed demolition of its wooden grain elevator in Hines Creek, Alta. Instead, the company will lease it to a group of farmers who will use it for off-farm grain storage. The two sides are still finalizing the terms of the lease arrangement. “We’re really pleased with the decision,” said Don Wieben of […] Read more

A fire that destroyed more than 1,100 round bales of hay at one of Canada’s largest sheep feedlots has not forced the owner to stop buying sheep and lambs from western Canadian producers. Diane Leitch said the Sept. 16 fire at her 20,000-head sheep feedlot in Craven, Sask., slowed down the operation, but it is […] Read more

Agricore United has rejected a bid from a group of farmers to buy one of the newest wooden elevators on the Prairies and instead will spend up to $100,000 to demolish it. On Sept. 30, Agricore United rejected the group’s second offer to buy the wooden elevator in Hines Creek, Alta., for $1,000, said Don […] Read more

Straw imported from Manitoba to feed central Alberta cattle has been discovered to contain high levels of fusarium graminarium, a fungal disease that could harm Alberta’s grain and livestock industry if it gets a foothold in the province. “In one sample 40 percent of the plants were infected,” said Doon Pauly, an Alberta Agriculture crop […] Read more