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
News
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
CFIA receives D grade for access to information
The federal information commissioner has added to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s public relations woes by criticizing it for a dismal record on responding to access-to-information requests. However, Suzanne Legault also commended the agency for efforts to do better. Last week, the interim information commissioner presented a report to Parliament that said CFIA was one […] Read more
Show ring learning experience for 4-H members
Mirjam Kielstra whispered to her Holstein calf, Emilie, before they entered the show ring for the junior showmanship class. “You’re going to be fine,” said the nine-year-old. Kielstra was one of nine members of the Sask Valley Dairy 4-H Club competing in junior and intermediate classes at the 27th annual Western Canadian Livestock Expo in […] Read more
Crop consultants develop high-tech testing laboratory
Wade Barnes and Curtis MacKinnon have come a long way since they sold fertilizer in Pilot Mound, Man., a few years ago. At the time, they would have laughed at the idea that they would some day own a high-tech lab and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for robots. However, that’s exactly what the […] Read more
Pulse research gets cash
LLOYDMINSTER, Sask. – Prairie pulse production has received an $8.3 million push from the federal government. “It’s very exciting news,” pulse grower Gordon Tuck from Vegreville, Alta., said during a funding announcement earlier this month. He said pulses are a healthful food and a good alternative for farmers. As a result, any effort to encourage […] Read more
Viterra sells grain subsidiary
Seven months after buying all of the assets of ABB Grain of Australia, Viterra has sold one of them. The company last week said it was selling its 50 percent interest in Australian Bulk Alliance to Summit Grain Investment Pty Ltd. Summit is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corp. of Japan, which holds the […] Read more
Drop in European exports takes toll on Seed Hawk
Saskatchewan agricultural manufacturer Seed Hawk has laid off 35 workers and reassigned others as it faces fewer orders from Eastern Europe. The layoffs take effect May 6 and come with recall notices for Aug. 3. They were issued just a few months after the company from Langbank, Sask., announced a $7.5 million expansion to increase […] Read more
Pulse crops big winner in trade mission deals
Pulse Canada’s chief executive officer says he has never seen anything like it in the decade that he has been promoting exports of Canadian pulse crops. After making deals in China last week that could increase pulse sales from $100 million to $500 million, Gordon Bacon told an April 14 telephone news conference from Beijing […] Read more
