Despite the lip service governments pay to value-added agriculture, there is little support for small, on-farm grain processors, say farmers and academics. “We haven’t tapped into any government programs either financial or anything else,” said Tony Marshall, a producer-turned entrepreneur from Aldersyde, Alta. While programs, incentives and expertise are available for bigger value-added projects like […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Growing crops no longer enough – WP Special Report (story 1)
Qu’Appelle, Sask. – Harvest was a distant memory for most southeastern Saskatchewan farmers on Oct. 21. Not for Gordon Hamblin. He took advantage of the gorgeous fall day to combine the last of his crops – 15 acres of barley. Not that the Qu’Appelle, Sask., farmer was procrastinating this fall. Far from it. Hamblin’s harvest […] Read more
Organic certifier removed from agrologists’ group
A director of one of the largest organic certification companies in Canada is no longer a member of the professional agrology body in the province where his business is based. The Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists says it has revoked the membership of Wally Hamm, of OCPP-Pro-Cert Canada, for refusing to follow actions set forth by […] Read more
Ag leaders dissect Sask. Party pledges
Farm leaders think the Saskatchewan Party’s agriculture platform is misguided and under funded. When party leader Elwin Hermanson announced his “Let’s get Saskatchewan growing” plan earlier this month, he highlighted three items on the party’s 10-point agriculture agenda. Establish a $300 per head low-interest cash advance for cattle producers devastated by the bovine spongiform encephelopathy […] Read more
Nitrogen shortage not expected to hit Canada
American fertilizer industry officials say soaring natural gas prices threaten to “irreversibly cripple” the U.S. nitrogen fertilizer industry. A recent report issued by the investigative and audit arm of the United States Congress lends credence to that claim. It says a spike in natural gas prices in 2000-2001 forced the closure of many manufacturing plants […] Read more
Hong Kong firm buys special crops processor
One of Canada’s largest specialty crop firms has changed hands. Hong Kong’s Noble Group, an Asian commodity trading powerhouse, has purchased Finora Canada from ADM Agri-Industries Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. ADM Agri-Industries, a Canadian subsidiary of American grain giant Archer Daniels Midland, purchased the Surrey, B.C., special crops firm in June 1999. The deal […] Read more
Bean supply slows price movement
Dry edible bean production in the United States is way down from 2002, but that comes as no surprise to Canadian observers. In its latest crop report the United States Department of Agriculture forecast a bean crop of 1.07 million tonnes, down from 1.36 million the previous year. The 21 percent decline was anticipated by […] Read more
Sask. mustard growers agree to fund research
Eleven years after Saskatchewan canola growers set up a research group, the province’s mustard growers have followed suit. Last week the provincial government gave its formal approval to a producer-directed Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission. “We have established the commission at industry’s request in an effort to increase the profitability of producers through the introduction of […] Read more
Couple grows to love life of growing vegetables
Joan Merrill grew up despising gardening, a strange admission for someone who now tends 50 acres of potatoes, corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, carrots, peas and other vegetables. “My mother made me go out and weed and I hated every minute of it,” says Merrill, who owns Robertson Valley Farm market garden near Saskatoon with her husband […] Read more
Pea research money may head to Europe
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers is considering farming out a portion of its pea breeding business to international firms. That would be a departure from the grower group’s long-standing tradition of directing all levy money into domestic programs. “We’re in negotiations with European pea breeding companies,” said executive director Garth Patterson. “They have been so critical to […] Read more
