There will be a changing of the guard at the top of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as it rushes to develop new food safety regulations due two years from now. CFIA president George Da Pont will be promoted to become deputy health minister, effective Aug. 12. He will be replaced by former provincial deputy […] Read more
News
CFIA’s Da Pont moves to health
Phosphorus not scarce, just use wisely: expert
WINNIPEG — The president of the British Society of Soil Science says it’s time to stop talking about peak phosphorus because the crisis has been overstated and the issue doesn’t resonate with the public. Phil Haygarth, a soil science professor at Britain’s Lancaster University, agreed that phosphorus is a limited resource, but he said the […] Read more
Scientists urged to better engage public about soil
Influencing public policy | Experts need to explain findings in terms public can relate to
WINNIPEG — Soil scientists who really want to influence public policy need to tell meaningful stories about the importance of soil rather than generate specialized results for a handful of peers. Henry Janzen, a researcher with Agriculture Canada, says that doesn’t mean experiments and the resulting data are irrelevant, but scientists need to use numbers, […] Read moreYear challenging, but positive: CWB
The 2012-13 crop year will go down in history as a year of massive change and adjustment in the western Canadian grain industry. Producers, grain companies and other organizations involved in the grain business were all affected by Ottawa’s decision to deregulate western Canadian wheat, durum and malting barley markets, but no organization was more […] Read more
Chewy beef blamed on quality, not cooking
Canadian beef quality audits conducted since 1995 show steady improvements, but tough steaks are still a common complaint. The last audit, which was completed in 2010, found that 39 percent of consumers complained about toughness. The audit looked for flaws in beef carcasses at packing plants and also bought four types of steaks from grocery […] Read more
Biofuel grant accountability lacking: auditor
Grant recipients have failed to assess emissions so the environmental benefit can’t be measured
Alberta’s auditor general says the province’s bioenergy grant programs are flawed. Alberta Energy spent approximately $200 million on biorefining and infrastructure grants between 2006 and 2012. The funds were doled out to 109 renewable bioenergy projects, including biofuel plants. Merwan Saher audited the programs in 2008 and determined that insufficient information was gathered from grant […] Read moreLong range El Nino warnings help farmers adapt
OSLO, Norway (Reuters) — Scientists have found a way to forecast El Nino weather events in the Pacific Ocean a year in advance, which is long enough to let farmers plant crops less vulnerable to global shifts in rainfall. While far from flawless, the technique doubles current six-month predictions of El Nino. “Better forecasting will […] Read more
Nova Scotia to vote on dairy quota
HALIFAX, N.S. — Members of Dairy Farmers of Nova Scotia will vote Aug. 5 on whether to abandon a four-year-old deal that has capped dairy quota values in five provinces. If farmers at a DFNS special meeting in Truro decide to pull out of the 2009 deal between members of the P5 (Ontario, Quebec, New […] Read more
CWB: one year in an open market
Farmers weigh in | Has the transition from a single desk to an open market been good for farmers?
It’s been one year since the western Canadian grain industry took its first steps into the world of open wheat marketing. For some farmers, the transition away from single desk marketing has been a positive step forward. But according to others, those first steps were more akin to stepping off a cliff. Glenn Tait, a […] Read moreWorld in brief
Conservation U.S. Conservation Reserve smallest in 25 years WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) — An American program that pays farmers to idle fragile cropland soon will protect the smallest amount of land in a quarter century, the United States government said. It cited high commodity prices that have encouraged farmers to plant as much as possible. The […] Read more
