It appears canaryseed growers have come to their senses and will be seeding an appropriate amount of the crop in 2005, says a Saskatoon commodity broker. According to Statistics Canada’s March seeding intentions report, Saskatchewan farmers will plant 420,000 acres of the crop this spring, which is half as big as last year’s area. “That’s […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Chinese feed pea market attractive
Pulse Canada wants to take a tiny nibble out of China’s feed grain smorgasbord. The country produced 93 million tonnes of feed last year and is expected to double that production over the next decade. However, members of China’s feed industry say that still won’t be enough raw material to supply the country’s burgeoning livestock […] Read more
Organic sector could see bubble burst
Organic growers, traders and certifiers are celebrating what might turn into a short-lived victory. Last week the federal minister of agriculture formally endorsed the idea of setting up a regulation for organic food in Canada, much to the delight of an industry attempting to negotiate continued access to the European Union. “It’s just an official […] Read more
Growers nab cheaper herbicide
Hundreds of prairie farmers have slashed their glyphosate bills this spring by directly importing the popular herbicide from the United States rather than purchasing it from local providers. John Barnsley is one of 450 producers who received approval from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency to bring ClearOut 41 Plus across the border. A semi-trailer delivered […] Read more
Dairy embryo trade rebounds
The BSE crisis has transformed the way Canadian Holstein breeders market animal genetics. “There is more demand for embryos because it is really the only way of getting the genetics out,” said Keith Flaman, secretary manager of Holstein Canada. Breeders typically exported 85,000-95,000 Holstein heifers annually until a BSE-infected Alberta cow brought an abrupt end […] Read more
Policy makers lack insight, says CFA leader
Policy makers didn’t have access to the proper tools when they built Canada’s agricultural policy framework, says the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. Missing was a fundamental understanding of how U.S. agricultural policy affects Canadian producers. Until that education process takes place, Canadian farm programs will always be ineffectual, said CFA vice-president Marvin Shauf. With parliamentary […] Read more
Farm income drop only now starting to show
The farm income cash crunch is just starting to show up in tax filer data, which until recently had reflected a steady rise in farm profitability. Federal statisticians have released the final estimate for 2003 and according to tax return information, the average net operating income for Canadian farms was $25,567 after expenses were subtracted […] Read more
Canadian hog tariff starts in May
Hog producers are about to be hit with another duty but this time the shoe is on the other hoof. Canada will impose a 15 percent surtax on U.S. live swine starting May 1. The tariff is part of a retaliatory measure against the United States in light of its failure to comply with the […] Read more
CWB modifies organic buy-back plan
After some tinkering, the Canadian Wheat Board believes it has come up with a new pricing option that will appease the organic community. Building on the daily price contract that was unveiled in February, the agency has devised an organic spread contract it feels should simplify what until now has been a convoluted marketing process […] Read more
Canola growers fear GM testing
Canola growers could face a new expense in getting their product to market depending on the outcome of a crucial meeting in Montreal next month. Signatories to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety are scheduled to meet at the end of May to make some critical decisions on how to regulate trade in genetically modified organisms. […] Read more
