Michael Raine

Pressure to expand has caused a late winter flurry of building and renovation of grain elevators across the Prairies. Rail-line abandonment, competition from farmer-owned inland terminals and price incentives from railway companies to terminals that can load trains rapidly and fill a large number of rail cars at one stop are cited as causes for […] Read more

BC Sugar, which last month closed its Rogers sugar beet plant in Winnipeg, reported net earnings of $8.19 million in its first quarter that ended Dec. 31. That’s down from $10.84 million in the same period in 1995-96. Total revenue was $216.44 million compared to $213.81 in the same quarter last year and total expenses […] Read more

In 1996 only 15 percent of Canadian dairy cattle were registered, down from 90 percent three decades ago. The dairy industry intends to reverse the trend and do it quickly. Dairy producers will soon be able to trace the origins of any cow they keep, buy, sell or breed. The National Livestock Identification Strategy for […] Read more

The largest unharvested crop in years lies under a heavy blanket of snow in many areas of the Prairies. Farmers in southern areas will have to think back a long way to remember how to thresh a crop under these conditions or even what to expect as the snow melts. “It will all depend on […] Read more

Trying to seed? Crop in the way? Too much residue? No fall field work done? Plan now for spring, say the experts. Overwintered crops are going to slow spring operations for many producers across the Prairies this year. Heavy moisture conditions, large snow packs and the obstacle of a spring harvest will result in the […] Read more

A strong smell kept Marlene Dillabaugh awake in her farm home through the early morning hours of Feb. 2. Nearby, the hired hand and his family had phoned the natural gas company thinking there was a gas leak in their house. Fifty metres away, black gold stained the snow as it seeped from the ground. […] Read more

High hay prices, low stocks and low cattle prices add up to lower spirits for some producers. No one is yet calling the short supply of hay in Alberta and southern Saskatchewan a crisis, but everyone in the industry is hoping for better weather. “Folks that normally winter graze haven’t been able to and people […] Read more

Pressure is mounting for Canada to allow more live American hogs bound for slaughter into the country. Canadian packing companies and American hog producers take exception to quarantine rules designed to stop a deadly disease carried in some American herds from spreading north. They say the rules amount to a ban on slaughter hogs. Peter […] Read more

Producer, insure thyself. Cheaper grain commission licensing and an insurance program to protect farmers in dealings with specialty grain buyers are proposed in the new amendments to the Canadian Grain Commission legislation before Parliament. “We want to allow smaller specialty grains companies to have access to licences that they can afford,” said Ralph Goodale, federal […] Read more

The plants of the native prairie have been in decline since the first farmer tilled the first furrow and the first bushel of grain was harvested. Reclaiming plants that are as old as the land itself and raising them as crops is new to many producers, but market opportunities are growing. “It is perceived by […] Read more