Canadian farmers are making money hand over fist, according to a new report from Agriculture Canada. Aggregate net cash income for 2014 is projected at $14 billion, 10 percent higher than the previous record. The preliminary forecast for 2015 is for net cash income to fall to $13 billion, but that would still be 21 […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Canada lacks presence in China
A strategy is needed to improve market access and expand food exports, says trade official
Other food exporters are outflanking Canada in China, says the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute. “With some noteworthy exceptions, Canadian food and beverages largely remain off the radar for most Chinese consumers and retailers,” said CAPI president David McInnes. The report is based on a networking trip to China last November, when a Canadian delegation visited […] Read more
Weather OK for most crops
Drew Lerner is hard pressed to find any crop production trouble spots when he looks at his global weather maps. “We’re definitely in a pattern here worldwide where there’s not much to be concerned with,” said the president of World Weather Inc. “There is very little reason to be looking for trouble from a wheat […] Read more
Producer security program pleases feed mill operator
Grain commission plans to include feed mills in the producer payment security program
A buyer for one of the largest feed mill operations in Western Canada is pleased the Canadian Grain Commission intends to expand its producer payment security program to include mills. Ken Richmond, purchasing manager for Masterfeeds, thinks it will make it easier to source grain. “We tend to buy as much grain as we can […] Read moreAustralia increases pulse crop estimate
Australia’s 2014-15 pulse crop just got a lot bigger, but the market largely shrugged it off. Total pulse production in the February Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) crop report was up 13 percent over the December estimate. That is a huge increase, but the 2014-15 winter crop harvest will still […] Read more
Farmers posted record aggregate net cash income last year
Canadian farmers generated a record $14 billion in aggregate net cash income in 2014, according to a new Agriculture Canada report released today. Taken down to the farm level, that’s an all-time high of $78,139 in average net operating income. “It’s something that we’ve been working for all of our careers is to see numbers […] Read more
A greenhouse and a whole lot more
PIKE LAKE, Sask. — As a boy growing up in Edam, Sask., Roger Valliere would occasionally help old Mrs. Foster weed her garden. His payment would be a handful of hens-and-chicks, which are desert plants that store water in their leaves. He faithfully planted the hardy succulents in his mother’s garden. Decades later, Valliere returned […] Read more
Researchers digging deeper into soil science
Two University of Saskatchewan researchers have been awarded $1.9 million in funding from Genome Canada to pursue work on promising new microbials. The funding is part of a $16 million research collaboration between the university, Genome Canada and Symbiota, a company from Cambridge, Massachusetts, that develops and commercializes microbials. “There are remarkable commercial opportunities to […] Read more
GM crop production approached 450 million acres in 2014
U.S., Brazil and Argentina are the globe’s top producers, but critic says global adoption of GM crops has slowed
Farmers around the world continue to embrace genetically modified crops, according to a recent report, but critics say it overstates the case. A record 448 million acres were planted to GM crops in 2014, up 15 million acres from the previous year, says the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). Acreage has […] Read moreProposed transparency bill pleases U.S.
U.S. wheat growers are pleased that Canada’s Bill C-48 will make the open market for wheat a little more open. The proposed legislation to modernize the Canada Grain Act was introduced into the House of Commons Dec. 9. One of the legislative changes contained in the bill would make it possible for U.S. growers to […] Read more
