STARS Air Ambulance receives donation Money raised at last year’s Canadian Western Agribition has been donated to STARS Air Ambulance in Regina. The service recently received $30,125 during a cheque presentation involving Canadian Western Agribition, the Canadian Bison Association and Bouchard Livestock. Funding to produce water buffalo milk A Quebec company will receive $300,000 in […] Read more
News
AG Notes
Now: The relentless Liberal who became agriculture minister; Then: No sugar on pill
There is a glorious story, truth or fiction, that has been handed down through generations of farmers’ union members about a former federal agriculture minister. | by Barry Wilson, Ottawa bureau
NOW: He is the reigning king of tenure in the agriculture ministry: 22 years from 1935 to 1957. Jimmy Gardiner, a member of the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame, is credited by historians as an important architect of modern federal agriculture policy and, in a 1997 Agriculture Canada booklet on agriculture ministers, for having expanded […] Read moreInput companies embrace integrated agriculture
Fingers in many pies | Companies that provide a product or service are keen on integrating information to diversify
Integrated agriculture will likely be one of the Top 10 buzzwords at North American farm conferences and workshops this year, but it will be nothing new for Jim Budzynski. Budzynski, managing partner of MacroGain Partners, an Indiana investment and consulting firm specializing in agri-food and energy, has been using the phrase for at least a […] Read morePED cases rise in Ontario; hog movement stopped
Ontario farms have stopped movement of swine after more locations were diagnosed with porcine epidemic diarrhea. Ontario ministry of agriculture reports sampling has confirmed the virus at an assembly yard, a trucking yard and a processing plant. It has also been confirmed at four farms in southern Ontario. The ministry says its spread to further […] Read more
Interest growing in buckwheat as farmers explore options
Mike Durand, a special crops buyer in Manitoba, knows what to expect when canola prices fall. He says his phone will ring more frequently with inquiries from farmers who are looking to grow something other than canola. This winter, many of those growers have called to talk about buckwheat. “I’ve had some farmers tell me, […] Read more
U.S. pig virus cases see biggest weekly rise since PED found
(Reuters) — Confirmed cases of a deadly pig virus spreading across the U.S. Hog Belt jumped by 215, its highest weekly increase since it was discovered in the United States in April 2013, according to the USDA’s National Animal Health Laboratory Network. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, which causes diarrhea, vomiting and severe dehydration is transmitted […] Read more
PotashCorp posts drop in profit, sees weaker year ahead
(Reuters) — Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan , the world’s biggest fertilizer company, on Thursday reported a sharply lower quarterly profit and produced 2014 forecasts that were below Wall Street expectations. The company’s disappointing outlook shows that the global potash market has far to go to recover from a slide in prices, due to years of […] Read more
PED hog virus is provincial responsibility: Ritz
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz is telling hog producers to look to their provincial governments for help as a potentially catastrophic swine disease shows signs of spreading in Canada. Cases of the highly infectious porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus have been detected in Ontario and Quebec. It already has caused significant losses to the hog […] Read more
Farm bill removes subsidies for biofuel blender pumps
(Reuters) — Lobbyists opposed to mixing more ethanol in gasoline scored another victory on Wednesday after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a farm bill with a provision removing subsidies for biofuel blending pumps in rural areas. The provision, tucked into page 735 of the 949-page farm bill, could make it more difficult for gasoline […] Read more
Shorter rotations give clubroot the advantage
Lessons from Alberta | Farmers pushed rotations for financial reasons and paid the price
BRANDON — Dangerous rotations were one of the two main causes of the mass outbreak of clubroot in the Edmonton area a decade ago, those close to the situation say. However, it’s hard for farmers to always follow the recommended rotations when they have to stay in business. “When it comes to rotating it, it’s […] Read more
