B.C. fruit growers select executive
The British Columbia Fruit Growers’ Association has appointed its executive for this year: Fred Steele, president, Bhupinder Dhaliwal, vice-president, Niel Dendy, Surjeet Nagra, Tony Nijjar, Ravinder Bains, Sukhdeep Brar and Denise MacDonald.
The association represents 520 commercial tree fruit growers in the province.
Pulse checkoff earns tax credit
Pulse growers are eligible to claim 44 percent of levy dollars paid to the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers for a tax credit in 2014.
The credit is based on the amount of levy funds spent on research and development that meet specific criteria set out by the Canada Revenue Agency.
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The total levy contribution can be calculated by referring to pulse sales receipts, which show the levy allocation.
The levy amount is eligible to earn an investment tax credit up to a maximum of 20 percent for individuals and up to a maximum of 35 percent for corporations that are considered Canadian controlled private corporations.
The 44 percent encompasses research carried out in Saskatchewan (40 percent), Manitoba (one percent) and Ontario (three percent).
Farm proprietorships must file a T2038 (IND) and farm corporations must file a T2SCH31. Corporations can also claim the 15 percent Saskatchewan research and development tax credit for research performed in Saskatchewan, using Schedule 403.
For more information, visit the Canada Revenue Agency website.
First drone festival planned for Canada
Canada’s first-ever drone air show and festival will take place near Antelope Lake July 25-26, 20 kilometres from Gull Lake, Sask.
DroneFest 2015 is open to all pilots from across the country. Workshops are being planned, and companies are also being confirmed for the event.
Travelling information workshops are also planned for this spring and summer leading up to the event.
For more information, visit www.gldronefest.com.
Collaboration helps feed world’s hungry
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Monsanto Fund are working to help feed people in the developing world.
Community growing projects turned a grant of $100,000 from Monsanto in 2013 into more than $200,000, which was donated to the foodgrains bank.
The grant was distributed among 13 growing projects from Nova Scotia to Alberta. Sixty-eight volunteers used the funds to plant 764 acres of crops, such as oats, wheat, canola and soybeans during the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons.
Seed of the Year West awarded
AC Andrew was selected as the 2014-15 winner for Seed of the Year West.
It was developed by the late Sadash Sadasivaiah at Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre and registered in 2000.
The seed was a big breakthrough for grain yields in the soft white spring wheat. It has a reputation for large yields in high and low input cropping systems and became the main cultivar for ethanol feedstock in 2006. It offered as much as 20 percent higher yield and greater ethanol yield per volume of grain compared to other wheat cultivars.
As part of the award, a $4,000 scholarship is given to a student enrolled in a western Canadian university and currently completing a masters or PhD in plant breeding or genetics.
This year’s winner is Kirby Nilsen at the University of Saskatchewan.
His research focuses on breeding for resistance to the wheat stem sawfly, specifically looking at the stem solidness trait in durum and spring wheat.
