An Alberta hog barn promoter is suing a Saskatchewan Indian band over a multi-barn deal that collapsed in a heap of acrimony and accusations. Synergetik2000 Special Projects Inc. is seeking a $669,758.83 judgment against the Poundmaker Indian band, its chief and councillors. In a statement of claim filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench in […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
U.S. centre raises concern over fat
An American consumer advocacy group has petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prohibit the use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil as a food ingredient. The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a 37-page petition with the government regulator, claiming the ban could save 11,000-30,000 lives a year. By the FDA’s […] Read more
Sask Agriculture rich on ideas, short on investment dollars
Saskatchewan Agriculture has a new vision for the province’s farming sector that is “big, green and healthy,” but due to poor financial health the government has few big, green dollars to start the plan. Newly appointed deputy agriculture minister Doug Matthies told a group of University of Saskatchewan researchers that the days of the $90 […] Read more
MPs split on GM ruling
The Supreme Court of Canada says Parliament has unfinished business related to the Percy Schmeiser appeal. In its decision handed down on May 21, the highest court in the land said Canada’s Patent Act is unclear when it comes to moral concerns surrounding the right to manipulate genes to obtain better weed control or higher […] Read more
Decision relieves biotech industry
If Percy Schmeiser had won his court case, the country’s agricultural biotechnology sector would have been annihilated, say industry proponents. They breathed a sigh of relief on May 21 when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the Bruno, Sask., farmer had violated Monsanto’s patent by growing canola containing the Roundup Ready gene. If the judges […] Read more
Food safety barriers threaten trade
There is a nasty pest threatening the flow of agriculture trade and nothing is being done to control it, says the head of one of Canada’s commodity groups. Gordon Bacon, chief executive officer of Pulse Canada, said countries are using nontariff barriers related to “bogus” food safety issues to restrict trade of crops, livestock and […] Read more
Bioproducts lack capital
Venture capital is unlikely to venture into the bioproducts industry, says an expert in the field. David Gauthier, a vice-president with Foragen Technologies Management Inc., said the bioproducts industry is a poor fit for that type of financing. His company operates a $42 million venture capital fund focused on agriculture technology that seeks out investments […] Read more
Schmeiser loses but war not over
The battle that pitted a Saskatchewan farmer against international agricultural giant Monsanto is over but the war over patents for genetically modified organisms will continue in a different arena, says a legal analyst. On May 21, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a lower court ruling that Bruno, Sask., farmer Percy Schmeiser violated Monsanto’s patent […] Read more
Schmeiser decision may help organic case
Monsanto came out the victor in its six-year legal battle against a farmer from Bruno, Sask., but the decision may come back to haunt them. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Percy Schmeiser case that Monsanto’s patent on Roundup Ready canola is valid and enforceable, which a legal expert said could play into […] Read more
Organic producers urgedto embrace biotechnology
A Swiss botanist has some “blasphemous” advice for the organic community. Klaus Ammann, director of the botanical garden at the University of Berne, said organic growers should be embracing biotechnology instead of rejecting it. While he realizes that kind of talk is considered heresy in many organic circles, Ammann said it is time for farmers […] Read more
