Lloydminster – The development of a new national cervid traceability system may reopen doors to lucrative foreign markets for elk and deer producers. Canadian exports of elk and deer antler have been shut out of markets, including the lucrative Korean market, because of chronic wasting disease found in farmed animals several years ago. Despite assurances […] Read more
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Cervid sector gets boost
Richardson expands its horizons
Canada’s second largest grain company is having a busy 2010. It is refurbishing existing assets, acquiring new ones and getting ready to open one of the largest canola crushing plants on the Prairies. Richardson International has entered the home stretch of its crushing facility project in Yorkton, Sask. The company is going through the 840,000 […] Read more
Producer guilty for refusing TB test
For more than a decade, Rodney Checkowski has believed that his cattle get sick after they are tested for tuberculosis. Despite that, a Manitoba judge ruled April 16 that Checkowski doesn’t have the right to refuse tuberculosis testing on his farm north of Rossburn. Judge John Combs found Checkowski guilty of refusing to present his […] Read more
Scientists study flowering to reduce seed production
LINDELL BEACH, B.C. – A discovery at the University of Toronto could be good news for prairie farmers worrying about the spread of purple loosestrife. University scientists have found that the challenge of Canada’s shorter growing season places a severe reproductive penalty on the invasive weed. “Bigger plants produce more seeds,” said researcher Rob Colautti […] Read more
Capital gains exemption helps make most of gains, rollovers
Most people have heard about the capital gains exemption, but they are not always familiar with the benefits the exemption can provide. In particular, producers may not be aware of how their capital gains exemption can be used in conjunction with other tax planning strategies to limit or defer income tax on their farming operations. […] Read more
Wheat board lands big Chinese sale, but Ritz unimpressed
Canadian Wheat Board president Ian White thanked agriculture minister Gerry Ritz for his support after signing a record $100 million three-year malting barley sales deal with China. The deal was announced April 15 during a week-long trade mission to China led by Ritz. “Western Canadian farmers have achieved a significant piece of a premium business […] Read more
Route to the bay; which way to go?
A group that promotes the northern port at Churchill wants Canadian National Railway to change the way it ships grain to the northern Manitoba port. The Hudson Bay Route Association said current routing makes no sense and costs farmers money. The association wants the rail company to ship grain from the Birch Hills-Tisdale area in […] Read more
Farming in the name of love
HARDISTY, Alta. – It’s been almost 10 years, but Barry and Lana Love are still known as the couple that headed the group opposed to Taiwan Sugar’s massive hog operation in their central Alberta community. The couple’s four-year involvement in the local group opposed to the 7,200-sow farrow-to-finish operation still influences their lives. In 2000, […] Read more
Viterra CEO compensation based on performance, industry
Mayo Schmidt got a $300,000 raise last year. The chief executive officer of Viterra received a compensation package totalling $4.8 million in the fiscal year ending Oct. 31, 2009. That’s up by about 6.6 percent from the previous year’s $4.5 million. Schmidt was paid a base salary of $950,000, along with $1.3 million in share-based […] Read more
Port looks to new export opportunities
Farmers attending a recent Hudson Bay Route Association meeting were left with a sense of optimism, tempered by the realization that much work is needed for the port of Churchill to reach its potential. Association president Arnold Grambo said in an interview after the meeting that representatives of industry, government and farm groups raised both […] Read more
