Roberta Rampton

WINNIPEG – Canadian oilseed crushers worry the detection of Asian soybean rust in the United States could mean stricter rules for soybeans they import to make oil and livestock feed. Canadian regulators were considering more inspection for U.S. soybean imports before the first soy rust case was found in Louisiana Nov. 10, said Bob Broeska, […] Read more

WINNIPEG – After enduring a prolonged stretch of poor prices, one of Canada’s largest producers and exporters of weanling pigs has gone into receivership, industry sources said last week. Premium Pork Canada Inc. posted notice in the London Free Press that its operations were being run by receivers, said Curtiss Littlejohn, vice-chair of Ontario Pork, […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Canadian traders had mixed views on what Statistics Canada’s estimates of grain stocks would mean for markets. The report for grain stocks as of March 31, released May 7, pegged stocks within trade expectations, with canola and wheat landing at the low end of estimates from traders and analysts surveyed by Reuters. “It […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Canada’s main wheat seller said it is worried new rules about how Canada approves genetically modified crops may come too late to stall a controversial new wheat variety. The Canadian government is mulling over how best to ensure new biotech crops don’t upset traditional markets while taking pains not to stifle research, said […] Read more

WINNIPEG – A common fungus could blanch dandelions out of existence by robbing the pesky weeds of the green-coloured chlorophyll they need to live, Canadian researchers say. The fungus could replace some chemical herbicides that have been banned because of environmental and health concerns in a growing number of cities, including Toronto. Scientists at Agriculture […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Canada’s largest hog producer and processor has launched a system that can trace a pork loin on a Japanese meat counter back to the farm where the hog was born. Maple Leaf Foods said the system could one day be extended to trace beef and other meat. It said its high-speed DNA database […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Statistics Canada has conceded it should have done more to show how a severe prairie drought and difficult survey conditions muddled its 2002 canola crop estimates. The federal agency’s phone survey of more than 33,000 farmers for its season-ending report last December resulted in a canola production number that was off by 17 […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Trade rules, politics, religion and shipping costs may preclude using thousands of pounds of Canadian beef for foreign aid, according to relief organizations. Canada’s beef industry, still reeling after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered, had hoped to work with aid groups to send excess meat outside the country, particularly cuts […] Read more

WINNIPEG – Near-perfect planting and growing weather, strong prices and increased competition has led to a record wheat crop this year in Ontario. “It’s almost the ‘perfect storm’ effect,” said Rob Gigiel, marketing manager with the Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board. In a province better known for corn and soybeans, farmers planted more than a […] Read more