SATURNA ISLAND, B.C. – Getting to Campbell Farm on Saturna Island involves an hour-long ferry ride from Vancouver Island followed by a slow drive on a single lane road.Once there, however, the view from the 500 acre farm nestled between mountains and the Pacific Ocean make the trek worthwhile.This is where Jacques (pronounced Jackie) Campbell […] Read more
News
Raising livestock on island has its challenges
Grain bins decorated to show off Rider Pride
There’s a rumor on the Prairies that if a Saskatchewan farmer nicks his finger on a swather knife, he bleeds dark green. It’s the same dark green as a squashed grasshopper on the front of a pickup truck or the colours of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.Mike Cey, marketing director for Federated Co-operatives Limited, believes farmers will […] Read more
Unseeded acres require trip to lender
Farmers unable to seed but relying on this year’s crop to make payments should plan to sit down soon with their lenders.The full effect of this spring’s excessive moisture in parts of the Prairies is not yet known, but some farmers have run out of time to plant and beat the fall frost.Lenders say they […] Read more
Sign of cutworms: dead plants
When Olaf Cordes checked his canola field, he saw canola leaves with the edges munched and some plants completely chewed.The New Norway, Alta., farmer knew exactly what the problem was.”Those darn cutworms. They love the canola and leave the weeds alone,” said Cordes, who already sprayed 320 acres to kill the tiny pests and planned […] Read more
Further delays beset planned Sask. ethanol plant
Cereal growers near Prince Albert, Sask., will wait longer than anticipated for construction of a cellulosic ethanol plant that will use their straw.Shell Canada and Iogen Corp. are exploring the idea of building a facility at the former Domtar pulp mill in Prince Albert.The companies have been working on a feasibility study since the project […] Read more
No ‘prolonged dry period’ expected this summer: forecasters
More rain is in the forecast for summer but not the multi-day soakers that disrupted spring seeding, say weather forecasters.Environment Canada, the Weather Network and World Weather Inc. are all calling for above normal precipitation throughout much of the Prairies during June, July and August.“We’re probably going to still see a fairly regular occurrence of […] Read more
Norseman buys Cover-All assets
Norseman Group Ltd. of Edmonton has bought the assets of Cover-All Building Systems for $14 million.The company plans to resume operations at the former Cover-All plant in Saskatoon in the next few weeks. Norseman already makes fabric membrane structures and rig enclosures and was a competitor with Cover-All, which made steel frame fabric-covered buildings.Cover-All went […] Read more
Rain could put 12 million acres in limbo
The Canadian Wheat Board predicts that eight to 12 million acres of prairie farmland will remain unseeded this year because of wet conditions.If that figure holds up, it means 15 to 20 percent of cropland in Western Canada will lie dormant this summer.Less than 300,000 acres remain unseeded in a typical year on the Prairies, […] Read more
Sask. ag minister hints of farm support
Saskatchewan agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud is not ruling out additional help for farmers who are unable to seed this spring.However, he said he can’t say what form that help might take or how much it would be.NDP leader Dwain Lingenfelter called on the provincial and federal governments last week to provide $100 per acre for […] Read more
Viterra sees dip in earnings
Viterra’s earnings fell 30 percent in the three months ending April 30, but chief executive officer Mayo Schmidt chose to focus on the positives in describing the period.”The second quarter was a period in which Viterra continued to pursue both its short and long-term strategic and financial objectives,” he said in a conference call discussing […] Read more
