Initial prices for Canadian Wheat Board grains are so low they have left producers wondering how to pay the bills. But there may be increases in the offing, providing the government agrees. In some cases, such as feed barley in Manitoba, the difference between the initial payment and the handling and transportation charges leaves almost […] Read more
Stories by Michael Raine
Group claims poultry abuse
Images of poorly managed chickens allegedly from a southern Ontario poultry farm are making news across Canada. The Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals, a Toronto based animal rights organization, says a University of Guelph biology student entered poultry barns belonging to veterinarian Lloyd Weber and recorded images that the CCFA claims show practices that are […] Read more
Alfalfa plant closes due to factors ‘beyond control’
Tisdale Alfalfa Dehy Ltd. is closing after 35 years in the northeastern Saskatchewan community. A rising Canadian dollar, record high natural gas prices, subsidized European alfalfa and climbing rail freight rates have worked against the company, said board chair Jim Boxall. “Three years of losses and no end in sight. We are choosing to stop […] Read more
Manitoba-made nutrient not available in Canada
Granule-mounted micronutrients not available in Canada, you say? Pity, says the Winnipeg company that is manufacturing the product. Wolf Trax has been in the business of manufacturing foliar-applied micronutrients for more than a decade, but some of its most popular new products are being stuck right onto the granular fertilizer, or prills. By attaching nutrients, […] Read more
Livestock sex selection may be available by 2008
There’s a heifer in your future if that’s what you want. By 2008, Canadian cattle and swine producers will be able to select the sex of their animals’ offspring when purchasing semen straws, said Bill Gastle. The entrepreneurial researcher who heads Toronto’s Microbix Biosystems Inc. feels the affordable technology will be a breakthrough. “If you […] Read more
Forage crop comes with licorice twist
Fenugreek is adding spice to the forage industry. As a high quality, strong yielding, nitrogen fixing legume, fenugreek is best known for its roles in curry and medicinal products and advertised to American consumers as a natural breast enhancer, but soon it could be part of cattle rations in Western Canada. Surya Acharya, a federal […] Read more
Barley, wheat check-off fees to increase
Checkoffs are rising for new deliveries of barley and wheat eligible under the Western Grain Research Foundation. “It’s been 10 years since there has been an increase. Ten years since the inception of the research programs,” said Lanette Kuchenski of the foundation. Funding contracts and research agreements were recently renewed by the foundation with the […] Read more
Co-op farm founder dies
The Matador Co-operative Farm’s first chair and one of its founders, Lorne Dietrick, died last week. He was 89. “Idealism and practicality must always travel together,” he wrote in his 1988 memoir, Matador Ð The History of a Co-operative Farmer, of the province’s still thriving co-op farm at Kyle, Sask. Before the Second World War, […] Read more
Grandiose past brought back to life
Once home to half of the University of Saskatchewan campus, the university’s College Building has reopened. It had been closed since 1997 because of structural failures in its concrete frame, but the 93-year-old building was recommissioned on Sept. 6 after a $20.7 million restoration. Completed in 1912 at a cost of $297,000, the building housed […] Read more
Veterinarians frustrated with drug policy
Small town veterinarians say the margins on many over-the-counter veterinary drugs such as anti-parasitic ivermectin are already so low they only carry them as a service to their farmer clients. “A lot of large animal veterinarians don’t see the value in carrying products like Ivomec,” said Curt Hagele, the registrar of the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical […] Read more
