Labour negotiations involving Canadian Pacific Railway and 3,800 unionized workers have reached an impasse. Teamsters Canada Rail Conference announced Nov. 21 that talks with the CP — Canada’s second largest railway — have stalled. The teamsters union, which represents CP locomotive engineers and conductors, has filed a mediation request with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation […] Read more
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Labour talks stall at CP
Wildrose MLAs join PCs in Alberta
Two Wildrose MLAs have crossed the floor Nov. 24 to join the Alberta Progressive Conservative party. MLAs Kerry Towle of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake and Ian Donovan of Little Bow joined Alberta premier Jim Prentice during a news conference to announce their defection. Both MLAs said they felt they could serve their constituents from within the governing […] Read more
Wild week expected in the markets
Get ready for twitchy trade this week, with a cornucopia of wild cards being played into the markets, says a crop futures trader. “You’re running into a multitude of events that are making it hard to see beyond, see what truly is going on unless you really look,” said Lorne Boundy, an oat market specialist […] Read more
First ag hackathon brings techies together
“It’s freeing up farmers to expand and progress their industry and their business,” said Anton Canitz, a participant in Canada’s first agriculture hackathon. University of Saskatchewan’s junior chamber of commerce organized the Emerging Agriculture hackathon at the university Nov. 21-23. Canitz and team members Dustin Gamester and Erik Tetland joined with students, producers, business professionals […] Read more
Video: Grain on rail: federal volume requirements end Friday
account_id=”2206156280001″ player_id=”HJ11Iy7v”] Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz says he expects Canada’s two major railways to keep grain moving to accommodate port blending for 2014-15 season. He won’t rule out extending current, Nov. 24, 2014, rules related to grain movement from the Prairies. Ritz was speaking at Regina’s Agribition.| Michael Raine photo [/caption] “But this year […] Read more
Facts less important than relationships in food debates
Farmers can present all the facts they want on a particular issue but still won’t necessarily change consumers’ minds, says the director of the Missouri-based Centre for Food Integrity. “Facts don’t rule the day for consumers,” Roxi Beck told the Canadian Bison Association annual convention. She said consumers are drawn to the ideas of people […] Read more
Producers harvest record potato crop this year
Canadian potato growers set a record this year: average potato yield was nearly 300 hundredweight per acre. Statistics Canada said in its Nov. 21 potato production report that the average yield across the country was 298.2 cwt. per acre, which is up from 292.4 cwt. last year and up significantly from the 2006-12 average, when […] Read more
Germany orders some poultry kept inside to protect against bird flu
HAMBURG (Reuters) — Farm poultry in German regions with a high risk of contact with migrating wild birds must be kept inside farm buildings to protect against the risk of contracting bird flu, German authorities said on Monday. The decision was taken by federal and state authorities after case of bird flu was found in […] Read more
Feds won’t commit to ease foreign worker restrictions
The federal government is talking to the red meat industry about the labour crisis in the sector, but it hasn’t committed to speeding up the immigration process for industrial meat cutters and butchers. In October, John Masswohl, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association director of government and international relations, said the CCA and other associations were lobbying Citizenship […] Read more
Alta. extends rural entrepreneur council
A forum to attract and support rural entrepreneurs will be extended. The Next Generation Advisory Council will continue for another year, announced the Alberta government. The council was created in 2012 with 12 young Albertans with various skills and experiences and tasked with helping find ways for the next generation to be come involved in […] Read more
