The Canadian Wheat Board is reacquainting itself with a long-lost customer. Earlier this month, at the Havana International Trade Fair, the agency signed a $20 million deal with Alimport, the Cuban importing agency for agricultural products, to provide 100,000 tonnes of Canada Western Red Spring wheat in 2005-06. “We are very pleased that Cuba has […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Own Use Import review worries club
Ross Campbell can’t understand why Ottawa is tampering with a popular program that saved thousands of farmers thousands of dollars on glyphosate purchases. Earlier this year he used the federal government’s Own Use Import program to bring in eight barrels of a generic glyphosate called ClearOut 41 Plus from the United States. He claimed the […] Read more
Pulse growers reject trade action
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers will not follow the lead of the Ontario Corn Producers Association. After conducting a month-long inquiry into the unusually high level of American peas and lentils flowing across the Canadian border, the association has determined it will not ask the federal government to pursue an anti-dumping countervailing duty on the subsidized American […] Read more
Environmental practices can pay off, farmers told
In the not too distant future, society will reward livestock farmers for employing environmentally friendly practices. In the meantime, there are more compelling reasons to make changes around the farm, says a greenhouse gas mitigation program co-ordinator with the Canadian Pork Council. Cedric MacLeod said the introduction of carbon credits is one example of how […] Read more
Terminator system patent OKed
Canada has granted a patent on the controversial terminator technology to an American biotech firm. Delta and Pine Land Co. and the United States Department of Agriculture received a patent on Oct. 11 for their Technology Protection System, which restricts transgenic movement in GM crops. The built-in biosafety device virtually eliminates cross-pollination and the volunteer […] Read more
Peas could fill gap in cattle fee
As Canada contemplates an anti-dumping countervail duty on American corn, cattle producers could contemplate a largely ignored, domestically grown alternative feed ingredient. There is no reason why cattle shouldn’t eat peas, say researchers at North Dakota State University. So far the pulse crop has only made inroads into swine, poultry and dairy rations but four […] Read more
Canadian organic growers gain reprieve
Canada’s organic growers have received a welcome reprieve from their most vital market. The Council of the European Union has unanimously agreed to extend a deadline to Dec. 31, 2006, that would force countries to have equivalent organic standards to the EU before they could trade organic products there. The decision provides Canada’s organic community […] Read more
Roundup back in Schmeiser field
He is as persistent as the Roundup Ready canola that keeps appearing in his fields. Percy Schmeiser is back in the news, threatening to file a lawsuit against his nemesis, Monsanto Canada. The Bruno, Sask., farmer, who lost a high-profile legal battle against the biotech company that made it to the Supreme Court of Canada, […] Read more
Demand increases for high oleic canola
Markets are heating up for high oleic canolas, say two companies contracting the specialty oilseed in Canada. “We’ve had significant growth in our oil sales over the past two to three years and the key driver is the requirement to have trans fats labelled,” said Gary Galbraith, Canadian production manger for Cargill Specialty Canola Oils. […] Read more
GM canola handles drought
A Canadian biotechnology company has developed a genetically modified canola that addresses one of the most yield-limiting environmental threats facing farmers today. By blocking a common protein found in all crops, Performance Plants Inc. was able to develop a line of drought-tolerant canola that has out-yielded control varieties by up to 26 percent under dry […] Read more
