PONOKA, Alta. — Alberta’s forage insurance payouts should reflect what it costs to replace forage rather than previous year’s prices, says a Rimbey farmer. Chris Simpson said he was paid four cents a pound for lost hay after he made a claim through his AFSC forage insurance plan this year following a drought that decimated […] Read more
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New crop popping up in Alta. shows potential
Lethbridge test plots show the region’s low humidity and bountiful sunshine make it suitable for growing thebaine poppies
Flowers may bloom metaphorically as well as physically in 2017 if Lethbridge-based API Labs is successful in its bid to grow poppies for the pharmaceutical market. The company has been working for nine years to obtain the necessary federal approvals to grow thebaine poppies, establish a seed cleaning plant and build an alkaloid processing plant […] Read moreShort lines hope CTA review answers car supply questions
Short-line railway operators on the Prairies hope the Canada Transportation Act review will address key issues affecting western Canadian grain transportation, most notably the thorny question of car supply. “We are sure hoping that in the review there is consideration for the short lines,” said Perry Pellerin, president of the Saskatchewan Shortline Railway Association. “In […] Read more
The big 6 … for now?
It is only a matter of time before consolidation occurs among the big six companies in agriculture, say analysts and company executives. “It appears the (agriculture) industry, in response to lower growth stemming from lower commodity prices, is on the cusp of substantial consolidation,” Deutsche Bank analyst David Begleiter said in a recent market research […] Read more
VIDEO: GMO opposition part of non-science movement: Robert Saik
Robert Saik’s goal is to make everyone informed about GMOs before they take a stance on them. The CEO of Agri-Trend is currently working on making Know GMO, a documentary movie about GMOs, telling both sides of the story including the anti-GMO side. Yesterday he gave a lecture at the University of Saskatchewan about GMOs […] Read more
Prevent phragmites from getting stranglehold
CHATHAM, Ont. — An invasive species that has spread across southern Ontario now threatens the West. Wetland ecologist Janice Gilbert told an environmental conference Oct. 21 that invasive phragmites are a significant threat to prairie pothole, wetland, river and lake environments across southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. The plant, which has not yet […] Read more
Farmers worry about foreign ownership
Chuck Fossay, a producer from Starbuck, Man., is concerned that foreign investors and pension funds could use local agents to buy farmland in the province. Fossay said during a Keystone Agricultural Producers meeting in Portage la Prairie Oct. 29, that it’s fine for all Canadians to buy Manitoba farmland, but he wonders if some buyers […] Read more
Too much of a good thing: U.S. farmers grapple with another supercrop
LAKE CRYSTAL, Minn./CHICAGO, Ill. (Reuters) — U.S. elevators are filling up so fast with a bumper harvest that they are storing crops in the open and refusing delivery from farmers who don’t have contracts. The scramble is a reflection of the exceptional yields and weaker than expected U.S. exports that continue to affect farmers, storage […] Read more
EU halts GM opting-out option
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) — European lawmakers rejected a proposal that would have allowed countries to restrict or ban the use of imported genetically modified crops that have secured EU approval. The European Parliament’s environment committee rejected the draft law 47 votes to three, many arguing that the proposal was unworkable and would lead to the […] Read more
Maple Leaf Foods swings into profit but shares slip slightly
(Reuters) — Maple Leaf Foods Inc. posted a rare profit in the third quarter as it nears the end of its restructuring plan. The profit is only Maple Leaf’s second in the past 11 quarters but was slightly smaller than expected. The company rolled out a program in 2010 to boost earnings by shutting some […] Read more
