An error in handling livestock feed in Saskatoon that temporarily quarantined 8,000 head of cattle on nine farms resulted in a negligible health risk for animals or humans. This was the finding of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week. The agency found that a February accident involving a feed mill and the province’s only […] Read more
Stories by Michael Raine
Flower auction runs at a whisper
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Spring is always in the air at a flower auction hall in the greater Toronto area. Quietly, five days a week, flowers from 100 farms across southern Ontario are sold by Dutch auction to buyers from Canada’s most populated metropolitan region. Cut flowers and potted plants are a $2 billion per year […] Read more
Distillers grain great supplement: expert
LANIGAN, Sask. – Distillers byproducts will soon be on nearly every prairie farm and in every animal. The ethanol boom is a short-term bust for livestock producers as the giant stills of the American Midwest suck up the flood of grain corn that was keeping a lid on cereal feed prices worldwide. Two days of […] Read more
New owner no stranger at Morris
The new owner of Morris Industries sees market opportunities for the Saskatoon short-line equipment manufacturer in the former Soviet Union and in the development of cellulose ethanol. But Casey Davis said his plans for Morris are evolutionary, not revolutionary. “I didn’t have a long-term plan (to buy the company), but the opportunity arose and here […] Read more
Farmers display innovative solutions
REGINA – The prairie farmer is known for innovation. Whether it’s the long winters, the isolation, the self-sufficiency or the lack of ready money to solve mechanical problems, there are always inventions at the Western Canada Farm Progress show in Regina. This year several inventions made the move from kitchen table to the show and […] Read more
Crop farmers to represent Sask.
REGINA – Norman and Laura Shoemaker were given the nod to represent Saskatchewan at the national Outstanding Young Farmers competition in St. Hiacynthe, Que., in December. Now in its 27th year, the program honours Canada’s best young farmers. The Mossbank couple were nominated along with Kevin and Christina Elmy of Saltcoats and Larry and Coralie […] Read more
Short-line innovation stands out
REGINA – Short-line farm equipment manufacturers are not in step with the rest of the Canadian industry. And that’s a good thing. Last week the Conference Board of Canada reported Canada’s level of innovation had fallen to 14th out of 17 industrialized nations. “Innovation is centrally important to Canada’s competitiveness and sustainable prosperity, but our […] Read more
Researchers target flax fibre
Oil and fibre aren’t mutually exclusive. Researcher Natalie Coetzee says after three years of plot trials, her work indicates oilseed flax varieties have fibre in their genes. Canada is the world’s largest exporter of flax, most of it grown in Saskatchewan. For generations Canadian flax breeders worked to reduce the crop’s straw component and boost […] Read more
New cattle deaths blamed on anthrax
Anthrax is back. As predicted, the bacteria that caused a record number of livestock deaths in Saskatchewan and affected Manitoba and Alberta last year is riding a wave of damp soil conditions and has returned to kill more cattle. In Manitoba a cow in the southeastern Rural Municipality of Stuartburn on the U.S. border has […] Read more
B.C. farmers breathe easier
River levels peaked in British Columbia earlier this week, but the damage was far less than feared. Mother Nature created the spring 2007 flood threat and, at the 11th hour, she took it away. Favourable weather patterns late last week cooled the melting of the near record snow pack in the mountains and pushed rain […] Read more
