Burning regulations
Smoke from burning crop residue affects people’s health, road safety and the environment. Manitoba’s smoke management plan is designed to raise awareness and promote responsible ways of dealing with crop residue.
Farmers who want to use controlled burning must adhere to the province’s controlled burning program by checking the daily burning authorizations at 800-265-1233.
Daily authorizations are made by 11 a.m.
Permits are issued for producers who need to burn within municipalities that are not authorized for burning. For more information about obtaining a burning permit, contact a MAFRI (Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives) GO office. Completed permit application forms may be faxed to 204-745-5690.
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When a municipality is authorized for burning, burning permits are not required unless the land is within Winnipeg boundaries or within a burning permit area. Any permits issued by other local authorities are also required.
For more information, email or contact the MAFRI Crops Knowledge Centre at 204-745-5630 in Carman.
New manager
The Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association and the National Cattle Feeders’ Association recently announced the appointment of Casey Vander Ploeg as their new manager of policy and research.
Vander Ploeg grew up in Vauxhall, Alta. He attended the University of Lethbridge and graduated (with distinction) earning a degree in political science.
He worked as a journalist with the Taber Times and then served for more than 20 years as a senior policy analyst with the Canada West Foundation, a policy think-tank.
“The list of policy concerns facing the beef industry in general, and cattle feeding in particular, is both long and wide,” said Vander Ploeg. “There is a lot of work to do, whether that’s improving access to existing markets, identifying and creating new markets, or seeking changes to punitive and discriminatory country of origin labelling in the U.S.”
The National Cattle Feeders’ Association was established in 2007 to represent Canadian cattle feeders and work in collaboration with other cattle organizations across the country. The Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association, established in 1973 to represent members on a broad range of government policies and economic issues that impact the competitiveness of beef production.
AgriStability deadline
The Sept. 30 deadline for submitting 2012 AgriStability supplementary forms is approaching. To help Alberta producers complete their forms, Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) is offering workshops in August and September throughout the province. The two-hour workshops will be held at 42 locations around Alberta.
The workshops are designed to provide information to help producers on several fronts:
- to understand what information is needed and why
- to learn how to organize data to make filing forms easier
- to discover the benefits of online AgriStability supplementary forms
- to learn how to complete and file the 2012 supplementary forms
- to discuss program changes for the 2013 AgriStability program year.
A list of the 42 workshop locations, dates and times, and contact information is available on the AFSC website or by contacting the AFSC call centre at 877-899-2372.
Meat inspection
Saskatchewan Agriculture has awarded the contract for meat inspection services in provincially inspected meat processing plants to the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre Inc. in Saskatoon.
Currently, the ministry contracts the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to deliver meat inspection services.
The federal government has indicated that on Jan. 1, the CFIA will no longer provide the services.
The centre will provide meat inspection services to Saskatchewan’s 12 provincially inspected meat processing facilities starting Jan. 1.
It will report to the ministry of agriculture. This does not impact the health-licensed meat facilities in the province.
For more information, contact, Jonathan Tremblay at 306-787-5155; email: jonathan.tremblay@gov.sk.ca.
