WASHINGTON, D.C. — Just how close are American farmers to a 1980s-style financial crisis? The answer to that question that might surprise Canadian farmers, who are enduring an uninspiring period, but hardly one of the darkest times in prairie farming history. But in the United States, a far larger proportion of farmers are believed to […] Read more
News
Transload facility set for Man.
Agricultural shippers in southern Manitoba will soon have access to a new transload terminal that offers direct rail access to markets in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Mid Canada Transload Services Ltd. is building a new inland port and rail siding near Letellier, Man., 11 kilometres north of the Canada–U.S. border. The facility will […] Read more
Prairie farmers using more land to grow crops — 610,000 more acres to be exact
When folk singer Stompin’ Tom Connors sang about Canada’s Poor, Poor Farmers back in 1973, he probably wouldn’t have envisioned how modern agriculture would evolve over the next 40 years or so. Today, grain and oilseed farmers on the Canadian Prairies are bigger, more productive and more heavily invested than ever. However, based on the […] Read more
Effort made to revive TPP
Reports of the death of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal have been greatly exaggerated. There was a plethora of stories following the withdrawal of the United States from the trade pact that suggested the agreement was dead. However, trade ministers from the remaining 11 countries that formed the TPP as well as representatives from the […] Read more
Fire destroys Sask. bale stack
More than 1,000 round hay bales were destroyed near Outlook, Sask., May 12 after overheated hay combusted. No one was injured. The Outlook Fire Department responded to the call at the Ontario Dehy cube processing plant about 4:40 p.m. The Macrorie and Conquest fire departments also responded with pumpers and brush fire apparatus. Crews worked […] Read more
New potash player K+S will face warehouse squeeze
WINNIPEG (Reuters) — Germany’s K+S AG will crack into the U.S. fertilizer market this spring when it opens the first new western Canadian potash mine in nearly five decades. However, the fifth-largest global potash seller faces a stiff challenge before it makes a single delivery: where to store the pink granular nutrient until farmers need […] Read more
Report that feds will copy Alta. carbon plan unconfirmed
Only Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec have carbon tax plans in place despite Ottawa’s Jan. 1 deadline
Ottawa was expected to release this week its draft plan for a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system in provinces that don’t implement their own plans by Jan. 1. Media reported last week that the plan will look like Alberta’s, which applies a tax on heating and transportation fuel but not gas and diesel used on […] Read moreFungicide registration costs skyrocket
At up to $300 million to bring a product to market, companies have to be confident of a return on investment
It’s become a standard factoid at ag industry meetings in Canada: a new herbicide hasn’t been re-leased in years and new chemistries are not on the horizon. There’s a reason for that. In fact, almost 300 million reasons. A 2016 consultant’s report, written for CropLife International, CropLife America and the European Crop Protection Agency, said […] Read moreWet, cool spring threatens prairie pea acres
Yields are optimal if planted before mid-May, but by May 8, Saskatchewan growers had 11% of the crop in, compared to 35%last year
Field pea plantings in Western Canada are likely to be lower this year than they were in 2016. How much lower is the million dollar question. Last month, Statistics Canada released its 2017 seeding estimates, suggesting that field pea plantings would drop by 250,000 acres this year. The agency’s projected pea area is 3.989 million […] Read moreBRM review suggested, but too late for next program
Farmers say AgriStability and AgriRecovery aren’t working and new business risk management programs are needed
An agreement on the next agricultural policy framework, expected in July, could be in jeopardy, Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart suggested after a ministerial meeting last week. “I think the possibility of that does loom,” he said in an interview when asked if the five-year deal might not be signed. “I don’t want to get […] Read more
