A federal program is failing to encourage lenders to extend more credit to struggling hog producers, says the president of the Canadian Pork Council. Jurgen Preugschas said participation in the Hog Industry Loan Loss Reserve Program is well below industry expectations. As of last week, about 190 of the country’s estimated 8,000 hog producers had […] Read more
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Cautious uptake on hog loan program
$7.4 million
Nine-time Canadian barrel racing champion and trick rider Jerri Duce Phillips has been named for induction this year into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. Phillips won her first Canadian championship when she was just 12 years old in 1964. She was also the first Canadian to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo in 1973, […] Read more
Ag export values dip with prices
The value of Canada’s agricultural exports fell by $3.7 billion in 2009 as the impact of lower commodity prices and a lingering global recession affected producers and export companies. It was an 8.8 percent drop, falling from $40.9 billion in 2008 to $37.2 billion last year. Statistics Canada figures included: A $1 billion or 15 […] Read more
Farmers wrestle with seeding questions
MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Receiving a good price is important, but getting a crop to grow in the first place is perhaps more important. For David Delahey, that means growing durum. “We’re not cutting our durum acres back,” he said at a recent market outlook conference in Moose Jaw. “Durum for us has been a […] Read more
CWB answers farmers’ questions
VULCAN, Alta. – A Canadian Wheat Board director from Alberta toed the party line during a recent Farmer Forum meeting in Vulcan. Reading from a prepared presentation, Jeff Nielsen explained the board’s vision and his job of showing the value of the board to producers and working for a strong sustainable wheat board. However, following […] Read more
Low CWB operating costs ‘high priority’
There aren’t many things that cost farmers the same now as they did five or 10 years ago. One that does is the cost of running the Canadian Wheat Board. In its annual report for 2008-09, the grain marketing agency reported administrative expenses of $79.1 million. When those costs are spread out over the 23.2 […] Read more
Delayed reporting causes concern in latest BSE case
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency decision to not publicly report the latest case of BSE may have hurt the beleaguered beef industry, says an industry official. CFIA tests confirmed Canada’s 17th case of BSE in an Alberta beef cow in February, but federal officials told only people in the cattle industry, the chief provincial veterinarians […] Read more
Seeding to start dry but late spring showers are in the forecast
Western prairie farmers will probably seed into dry soil this spring and pray for rain, weather experts say about the long range weather outlook. However, they agree that timely rain and generally good growing conditions will dominate most of the Prairies during the summer and harvest season. The exception will be the Peace River region, […] Read more
Food makers’ profits defied recession last year
Food manufacturer profits in Canada increased 13 percent last year, says the George Morris Centre, despite the recession that dragged down profits in the general manufacturing sector. Part of the reason is that food manufacturers paid 16 percent less for raw commodities than they did the previous year. Senior market analyst Kevin Grier said the […] Read more
Feds bet on existing programs
As the potential impact of the H1N1 flu epidemic started to emerge last spring, Agriculture Canada analysts recognized that it would batter an already hard-hit hog industry. They also recognized that payouts to hog producers from existing programs based on historic margins were decreasing sharply. Yet they insisted the programs would rise to the occasion. […] Read more
