Farmers in India are harvesting their summer pulses and according to preliminary government estimates, it is going to be a big crop. The first advance estimate from the department of agriculture’s directorate of economics and statistics shows farmers are expected to produce 4.98 million tonnes of kharif pulses in 2005. That is nearly identical to […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Project organizers shrink ethanol plan
North West Terminal Ltd. is forging ahead with an ethanol project in Unity, Sask., despite being excluded from a federal funding program. The original plan was to build an $80 million, 150 million litre facility next to the farmer-owned inland terminal. The plan was scrapped when the federal government rejected North West’s application for a […] Read more
Input retailers want own-use rules clarified
Farm input retailers want the federal government to clarify how the own use import program is supposed to work. “The rules of the game have obviously changed and we don’t think they’ve changed for the better,” said Bob Evans, president of the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers, which represents an estimated 90 percent of the country’s […] Read more
Report discounts GMO market fears
Contrary to popular belief, the introduction of genetically modified crops hasn’t led to huge market losses, says a biotech analyst. In a 2003 report, the Soil Association from Great Britain postulated that the introduction of Roundup Ready canola cost the Canadian canola industry $300 million to $400 million a year through lost sales to Europe. […] Read more
Future of farming lies with biotech, says CropLife boss
The makers of farm chemicals and plant biotech products are ready to embrace a new form of agriculture, which they say will move producers beyond subsistence farming. An emerging sector dubbed the bioeconomy, where crops are used to produce goods such as medicines, fuels and plastics, will be the salvation of farming, said Lorne Hepworth, […] Read more
Pulse lab to keep Canada on industry’s leading edge
Al Slinkard remembers the early days of the pulse breeding program at the University of Saskatchewan in 1972 when he was sharing a tiny room with a durum breeder. Flash forward 33 years and Slinkard is attending the grand opening of a $3 million pulse lab that will be home to more than 25 full-time […] Read more
Alta. alters calculations to boost CAIS payment
Alberta is unilaterally correcting what farmers have identified as the number one problem with the federal safety net program. By using an alternative method to calculate Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization reference margins for the 2003-05 program years, the province expects to dole out an additional $224 million to Alberta farmers. Producers have long complained the […] Read more
Corn duties could slow ethanol industry growth
Canada’s ethanol industry is on its way to meeting the federal government’s production goal, but all that progress could be scuttled by a proposed corn duty, says an ethanol enthusiast. “That will change the dynamics of ethanol plant construction in Eastern Canada for certain,” said Lionel LaBelle, president of the Saskatchewan Ethanol Development Council. The […] Read more
Compensation available for wildlife damage
This is the time of year when waterfowl and wild game have supplanted weeds and insects as the top threat to crops still standing in the fields. Farmers overwintering their crops should keep in mind there is a national wildlife damage compensation program administered through provincial crop insurance agencies. Producers do not need to carry […] Read more
Red lentils face stiff competition from Australia
Red lentil prices fell a penny per pound last week as Australia began pre-selling its coming harvest. Pulse Australia said the country will produce 169,000 tonnes of lentils this year, up 78 percent from last year’s drought-reduced harvest and slightly more than normal. The first loads of Australian lentils are set to depart for the […] Read more
