LONDON, Ont. – Chicken producers may one day have a new perspective on the manure litter they remove from their barns. The smelly waste product could end up being more valuable than the meat. “There are more than 500 chemicals in chicken manure,” Agriculture Canada researcher Zakir Kazi told a recent Growing the Margins conference […] Read more
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Vancouver Island beekeepers seek answers to colony deaths
Wheat survives frost in western EU
HAMBURG (Reuters) – Western European Union wheat plantings have emerged without major damage from the Arctic-style temperatures seen this winter and hopes of a good harvest are increasing, traders and analysts said last week. Wheat in France, Germany and Britain survived deep frosts under snow cover, they said. In its first forecast for the 2010 […] Read more
Higher prices keep prairie lambs at home
Record high Easter lamb prices have given sheep farmers a much needed boost. Miles Buswell, manager of sheep and goat sales at Beaver Hill Auction in Tofield, Alta., said prices for spring lamb at the Easter sale March 22 set record highs. The highlight of the sale was 65-pound lambs fetching $219 per hundredweight. Several […] Read more
Unique ways to enjoy pulses
EDMONTON – Bean caviar and pea-a-beef sausage may not be on the menu anytime soon, but organizers of a food competition hope the ideas spark a passion for pulses. The goal of Mission ImPulseible is to get the food industry thinking more creatively about how to use pulses, said Peter Watts, director of market innovation […] Read more
Paterson has more wheat marketing plans for Australia
Getting accredited as an exporter of Australian wheat may not be the last word on Paterson GlobalFood’s business activities Down Under. Keith Bruch, vice-president of operations for the Winnipeg company, said the next logical step would be to acquire physical assets in the Australian grain industry. But he emphasized nothing will happen soon. “We’d probably […] Read more
Quota cut proves timely
Production and sale of Canadian chicken fell close to one percent last year and industry leaders say that is a success story. In the face of the worst recession in almost 70 years, the industry faced declining consumer demand, a shift to lower-priced meats and the potential for plunging producer incomes. Leaders of the national […] Read more
Balance sheet vital when measuring performance
More farmers are measuring financial and production data to analyze business performance. They use the information to make management decisions about production, marketing, investment choices and debt. On average, farm margins are thin and sometimes nonexistent, so it’s important to use performance data to put management decisions on a solid footing. Relying on the alternative, […] Read more
Western prairies dry
April has just arrived and alarm bells already are sounding throughout the western prairie grainbelt. It’s dry out there. Alberta has issued wildfire warnings and the Canadian Wheat Board says germination could be a problem. Trevor Hadwen, agroclimate specialist at Agriculture Canada’s agri-environment services branch, said areas that were dry last fall didn’t improve much […] Read more
Lamy says WTO still crawling along
World Trade Organization director-general Pascal Lamy is clearly not one to admit defeat. After a week of “stock-taking” in Geneva to figure out if WTO negotiations, now in their ninth year, have a future, he not surprisingly decided they do even though talks have been stalled since mid-2008. “While there is certainly disappointment that we […] Read more
Gophers make Sask. official pest list
Gophers are now officially pests in Saskatchewan. Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud announced last week the rodents have been declared pests under provincial legislation. That means rural municipalities can now take action to control gophers through bylaws. He said RMs needed more authority in the fight against Richardson’s ground squirrels. “If 10 producers are trying to […] Read more
