A private member’s bill that would abolish the long gun registry is in jeopardy. Last week, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff announced his party wants to retain the registry with changes aimed at making it less onerous for gun owners. He said the eight rural Liberals who voted for bill C-391 Nov. 4, 2009, when it […] Read more
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Opposition MPs do about face on gun registry elimination by suggesting changes
Poor prices cloud Aussie wheat outlook
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) – Estimates of Australia’s wheat crop could shrink this year as farmers delay planting, wary of poor prices, rising input costs and a potential locust plague. Australia is the fourth-largest wheat exporter and accounts for 12 percent of world shipments. As a result, any cuts to forecasts could support world prices, especially […] Read more
Ag Notes – for Apr. 29, 2010
Viterra Contributes $100,000 Toward Haiti Viterra Inc. has announced that it has donated $100,000 to the Canadian Red Cross for relief efforts in Haiti. The company launched a matching donation program for its employees and farm customers in Western Canada in January. “The response to our program has been tremendous…,” Mayo Schmidt, chief executive officer […] Read more
Bayer ordered to pay $48 million
Bayer CropScience has suffered a setback in its legal battles with disgruntled American rice farmers. On April 15, a jury ordered Bayer to pay $48 million US in compensatory and punitive damages to 14 Arkansas rice farmers. The company plans to contest the ruling, saying it met its legal requirements regarding low-level GM presence. The […] Read more
B.C. dam heads to environmental study stage
LINDALL BEACH, B.C. – A controversial dam proposal on the Peace River, which would flood about 13,000 acres of land, is moving to the next phase. The British Columbia government announced it will conduct a regulatory review of its Site C Energy Project, a $6.6 billion plan to build a third dam and hydroelectric generating […] Read more
Motion for equal access to farm inputs advances
The House of Commons has approved a motion encouraging the federal government to change regulations to give Canadian farmers access to the same inputs used by their foreign competitors. In a voice vote April 16, Conservative and Liberal MPs supported a motion by rural Ontario Conservative backbencher Bev Shipley that Canada have “equivalent scientific research […] Read more
Equipment maker healthy
CHICAGO, Ill. (Reuters) – CNH Global NV has reported stronger-than-expected earnings and raised its full-year outlook for global industry sales, saying it is seeing encouraging signs of stability almost everywhere outside Europe. The American farm and construction equipment manufacturer, an affiliate of Italian carmaker Fiat SpA, posted a first-quarter net profit of $16 million US. […] Read more
Big Sky restructuring swallows gov’t stake
The Saskatchewan government’s ownership stake in Big Sky Farms has dropped by more than 20 percent as a result of the company’s recent court-approved financial restructuring. Officials at the province’s CIC Asset Management confirmed that the government’s equity stake in Big Sky has now fallen to 42.7 percent from 62.8 percent. Big Sky, Saskatchewan’s largest […] Read more
A dozen ways to improve a prairie canola crop
John Mayko of the Canola Council of Canada offers these suggestions for maximizing yields this season: Check the seeding unit carefully Level it side to side and back to front, ensuring even seed distribution and constant, shallow planting of the tiny seeds. Tires should be properly inflated. Wing tires may have different pressure ratings than […] Read more
Pasture inventories vital to effective grazing
NANTON, Alta. – A pasture inventory should top every grazer’s spring to-do list. “It is very important to know what you have on hand and what you expect to have in the future and manage that inventory,” grazing consultant Jim Gerrish told a recent grazing seminar in Nanton. “You have pasture to sell to your […] Read more
