A Conservative government decision to quit sending federal inspectors into provincially regulated meat plants in three western provinces within 30 months is drawing accusations that food safety standards will suffer. The government and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, supported by some food safety experts, dismiss the concerns. Conservatives say it is opposition and union fear […] Read more
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Federal inspectors to leave provincial meat plants by 2014
Oxides in wood ash give soil a boost
Calcium may be the main ingredient in wood ash but that doesn’t mean that calcium is making soil more fertile, says a researcher at the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Station. In actuality, it is the oxides in wood ash that improve soil fertility because those chemicals combine with hydrogen to increase the pH of acidic […] Read more
Biofuel not source of hunger: report
Grain Farmers of Ontario wanted to clear up the confusion about whether using grain as a biofuel feedstock is good for the environment and not bad for the world’s hungry. It got the answer it wanted in a report prepared by former corn growers’ executive director Terry Daynard, whose company, KD Communications, concluded that there […] Read more
Crop development lags in western Sask., Alta.
Crops in the western half of the prairie region are behind normal development, according to a new Agriculture Canada map based on growing degree days. Fields in Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan were rated either normal or better than average as of Aug. 8. But crops in the western half of Saskatchewan and almost all of […] Read more
Calcium crucial to soil balance, says agronomist
His theory may go against conventional wisdom, but an Alberta farmer says calcium is causing yield boosts associated with applying wood ash to acidic soils. Peter Lundgard, who farms near Peace River, Alta., said wood ash can be an effective soil amendment but its effect in treating soils has less to do with soil pH […] Read more
Wild Rose ag platform shares stage with feds
The Wild Rose Alliance Party wants to give Alberta farmers more say in local decision-making, according to the party platform. The party released its agricultural policy at the beginning of August with promises to reform safety net programs, promote marketing choice, make agriculture a priority in international trade negotiations and repeal a series of land […] Read more
Churchill port promoters attempt to find interest in rail line
A railway group with members across the Prairies is hoping to drum up interest in an unused section of rail line that could serve as a key link to the Port of Churchill. Sinclair Harrison, president of the Hudson Bay Route Association, said there appears to be significant interest in buying two portions of an […] Read more
Alberta grant program
A total of $5 million will be available for 2011-12 for a new Alberta grant program. The application deadline is Sept. 26. The Alberta Land Trust Grant Program will make grants available to land trust organizations for the purchase of conservation easements on private land and to manage land administered under trusts. Conservation easements are […] Read more
Australian visitors gather ag information
It’s similar, but different. That was something a group of Australian farm women already knew about Western Canada when they recently toured the prairie provinces. And they were hoping to find something different here that would work back home. “Anything that’s useful that we could use down under,” said 29-year-old farmer Brooke Nicholson. “Your climate […] Read more
Model predicts bigger prairie crop
An analysis of satellite imagery reveals farmers in Western Canada could harvest more spring wheat than earlier anticipated. Using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, researchers at Statistics Canada have determined there will be 17.6 million tonnes of spring wheat production, which is well above the Canadian Wheat Board’s June estimate of 15.9 million tonnes. It […] Read more
