Agricultural trade promoted
Ottawa is investing $1 million in three world standard-setting bodies for agriculture.
The money will fund scientific and technical work of the Codex Alimentarius and the International Plant Protection Convention of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Organization for Animal Health.
The investment will help these organizations ensure that technical regulations and standards do not restrict global trade, while at the same time protect food safety, animal and plant health.
Strong international trade standards, guidelines and codes of practices help maintain a level-playing field in international trade.
Read Also
Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research
Farming Smarter near Lethbridge got a boost to its research equipment, thanks to the Alberta government’s increase in funding for research associations.
Water expert recruited
The University of Saskatchewan has recruited water expert Jay Famiglietti from NASA for the Canada 150 Research Chair in Hydrology and Remote Sensing.
Famiglietti is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory senior water scientist, based at the NASA lab at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
He is one of 24 appointments as part of the Canada 150 Research Chair program created in celebration of the country’s 150th anniversary to bring top-tier researchers to Canada.
A total of $7 million will be awarded for Famiglietti’s seven-year chair.
Building on work by the U of S Global Institute for Water Security, Famiglietti’s research team plans to develop new computer models and other techniques to track how fresh-water availability is changing around the world.
Red Angus marks 50 years
The Canadian Angus Association celebrates 50 years of Red Angus registrations this year.
Red Angus has been in Canada much longer with the first recorded imports from Scotland arriving in 1886.
Matthew Cochrane imported Red Angus from Scotland for his ranch west of Calgary in 1889.
When the Canadian Angus herd book was opened to Red Angus in 1968, the association offered to register all Red Angus cattle under the age of 24 months at a low price to allow Red Angus breeders a more affordable chance to populate the herd book and register their herds.
The first Canadian-registered Red Angus bull sold at auction in 1969 and the first purebred Red Angus bull was sold at the Calgary Bull Sale for $1,800 in 1970.
Today, Red Angus cattle account for more than 40 percent of Canada’s national Angus herd.
Ag excellence award submissions sought
The deadline for the 2017-18 Excellence Award for Agricultural Students is May 6.
Farm Management Canada and the Canadian Association of Diploma in Agriculture Programs are collecting submissions from agricultural students across Canada and will award three winners with scholarships toward furthering their education in agriculture.
The contest gives students the opportunity to develop their communication skills while voicing their opinion on a subject related to farm management.
Students must respond to the following question through a multimedia presentation, video, Twitter chat, blog or a Wiki: what aspects of the North American Free Trade Agreement should be addressed and amended in the current negotiations that will benefit Canada’s agriculture sector?
For more details, visit fmc-gac.com.
