AgriStability under discussion | Ag ministers to meet in Whitehorse to form a five-year plan
Federal and provincial agriculture ministers have negotiated new farm support rules largely in secret, but British Columbia minister Don McRea figured his producers should be in on the secret. Beginning in June, before any other minister, he began to brief farmers in the province about proposals for drastic cuts in business risk management program funding […] Read moreNews
Changes imminent, says B.C. ag minister
Pine beetle stabilized
Officials are continuing to carefully watch the movement of mountain pine beetles in Alberta, says a provincial official. The latest results are a mixed bag. Surveys conducted at 179 sites across Alberta’s pine forests in May and June found a wide variation in the over-winter mortality for the beetle, whose populations cut off nutrient supplies […] Read more
App helps identify invasive weeds
A new application for smart phones will allow people in British Columbia to easily report invasive weeds so that they can be identified, tracked and controlled. The Report-a-Weed app is a free download to iPhone and Android phones that allows users to submit reports of invasive plant sightings, upload photos and browse a list of […] Read more
Push on for EU trade deal
With speculation swirling late last year about agricultural implications if Canada joins Pacific Rim trade talks, Agriculture Canada officials were suggesting privately that Canada keep its eye on the European ball. In preparation for a November 2011 meeting between deputy agriculture minister John Knubley and his trade department counterpart Louis Lévesque, departmental officials prepared a […] Read more
Water buffalo plans key to start-up farm
The water buffalo living on Sy Bennik’s dairy farm near Rimbey, Alta., are true to their nature. The 10 females and one bull take every opportunity to wallow in puddles and lie in mud. “They certainly like the muck,” said Brad Bennik, Sy’s son and the owner of the water buffalo. “If there was a […] Read more
MLA calls for spud boycott
Concerns over Alberta’s labour laws | Liberal MLA says potato farms fail to protect farm workers
A prominent Alberta Liberal MLA plans to amplify his calls for a boycott of Alberta potatoes and other farm produce until the province’s Progressive Conservative government enacts labour laws that better protect farm workers. Dr. David Swann, former party leader and now health and wellness critic for the Liberals, last week called on Frito-Lay, a […] Read moreCWB wades into canola markets
Canadian grain company CWB has expanded its 2012-13 marketing program to include canola, a crop that was planted on a record 21 million acres of prairie farmland this year. CWB president Ian White said the company will offer a canola pool this year but he acknowledged that total volumes could be relatively small and delivery […] Read more
Labour law inclusion demanded for Alta. farms
Farm workers exempt from regulations | NDP, labour federation says government must take steps to protect workers
Lack of protection for Alberta farm workers was highlighted Aug. 20 by Alberta’s New Democrats and the Alberta Federation of Labour. The two groups used the occasion of the AFL-designated Alberta farm workers day to urge the provincial government to extend occupational health and safety laws and workers compensation benefits to farm employees. NDP agriculture […] Read moreMeet the new China
Chinese consumers today value brand names and the quality they represent. Economic change has been considerable in China since the early 1990s, and today there is an entire generation that has never known anything but prosperity, Andrew Wu said during a special seminar in Calgary sponsored by the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency. “The speed […] Read more
Farm definition too romantic: report
Traditional views and descriptions of the farm sector become less relevant as farms grow in size and production becomes more concentrated on larger operations, says a new think-tank report. Government programming should be designed to recognize the new reality of fewer and bigger farms rather than a “one size fits all” model that aims to […] Read more
