Michael Raine

Philom Bios Inc. hopes to improve liquidity with the sale of 442,963 Class A common shares. John Cross, president of the Saskatoon agricultural inoculant company, said investors told the board of directors early last year they wanted improved liquidity of the company’s shares. “And today we are happy to say we have found some of […] Read more

DuPont is offering to take some of the risk of production alongside farmers. The company will provide a risk protection package along with its VIP Farmcare program for growers who buy more than $6,000 of Harmony Total or Refine Extra this season. Jay Isberg of DuPont said the new benefit will provide farmers with a […] Read more

A new research project will focus on drought-tolerant winter wheat varieties. It is hoped the program will produce winter wheat varieties that can withstand the drought-prone conditions of Western Canada’s brown and dark brown soil zones and still provide the high yields for which the winter cereal is known. Brian Fowler of the University of […] Read more

Standards in the cold preservation of bovine semen are now being successfully transferred to horses. Claire Card, a professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, has recently completed a report for the Saskatchewan government about her study of cryopreserved horse semen. Research shows that if some techniques and standards […] Read more

Canadian tractor sales are up this year, but the association that monitors these trends is having trouble explaining why. The Canadian Farm and Industrial Equipment Institute reports that as of the end of November, national tractor sales were 15 percent higher than the year before. Two-wheel drive tractors with more than 100 horsepower led the […] Read more

University of Saskatchewan scientists have discovered a new use for snakeroot that might put some extra change in farmers’ pockets. Alberto Estrada and three other researchers from the university’s agriculture college have learned that the prairie plant makes an ideal carrier for vaccines. Estrada and two of his colleagues have applied for an American patent […] Read more

Chronic wasting disease has been eradicated in Canadian farmed elk, or that is the hope, says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. George Luterbach of the CFIA said by the first week of December the agency completed “the last round of (Saskatchewan elk) herd elimination” for animals that may have been exposed to CWD. “We went […] Read more

Despite the publicity, actual cases of chronic wasting disease are rare, say published articles by the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. In the most infected counties of Wyoming and Colorado, where the disease was first discovered and appears to be endemic, only one percent of elk and five percent of the mule deer populations are […] Read more

Elk post-mortem monitoring programs across the Prairies have been accepted by 90 percent of producers, says George Luterbach of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Luterbach said Manitoba already has a mandatory testing program in place, while Saskatchewan and Alberta’s voluntary programs involve 90 percent of elk farms. Those numbers are sure to increase given that […] Read more

Farmers can now use biodiesel fuel in their John Deere equipment without jeopardizing their warranties. “What we are really saying is that provided the fuel meets certain standards, we will recognize it for being just as good or better than regular diesel fuels,” said Barry Nelson of John Deere’s head office in Lenexa, Kansas. The […] Read more