A little green schoolhouse on the corner of Calgary’s Stampede Park is the beginning of a major expansion for Olds College. The modular building is the temporary home for two college programs and 50 students in the satellite school. The college and the Stampede started talks in 2001 to expand the 90-year-old agricultural college to […] Read more
News
College expansion fits with Stampede plans
Biofuel sector heats up with Alta. boost
Alternative energy projects will be pushed from iffy to profitable with a $239 million Alberta government investment into the bioenergy industry, said a pioneer in the field. As part of the province’s new plan to encourage investment in bioenergy, projects that turn manure into electricity like at Highmark Renewables will get a six cents a […] Read more
Rancher seeks fire payment
Rancher Russell Jans of Piapot, Sask., will continue to fight for compensation from a fire that left him without winter pastures for his 550 cattle. He said he isn’t happy with a legal judgment in August that failed to provide payment to him for a fire in September 1999 that cost him thousands of dollars. […] Read more
CAFTA’s trade lobby to remain important: new chief
The stalemate in World Trade Organization negotiations is no reason for Canada’s most prominent agricultural trade-promoting group to take a breather, says its new president. Instead, the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance should step up its lobbying to sell the benefits of a world trade liberalizing deal, says Regina-area farmer Alanna Koch. “I think CAFTA’s role […] Read more
Gov’t program not an easy ride: minister
As the pace of applications picks up for the government’s low farm income program, agriculture minister Chuck Strahl has a clear and stern message for those who qualify for help. Don’t consider it simply a way to buy more time on the farm to keep doing what you have been doing, hoping things get better. […] Read more
Groups unite to fight feds on CWB issue
A coalition of five farm and rural organizations representing grain producers across the West is demanding the right to vote on the future of the Canadian Wheat Board. “I think that’s really all that the farmers of Western Canada are asking for,” said David Rolfe of Elgin, Man., president of coalition member Keystone Agricultural Producers. […] Read more
Poverty hits hard in rural Canada
Rural poverty is more pervasive than a decade ago and there is less help from national safety net programs, senators heard last week at hearings into rural poverty. “There is no boom in rural areas anymore,” Debbie Frost, president of the board of the National Anti-Poverty Organization, told the Senate agriculture committee Sept. 28. “People […] Read more
Strahl visit to focus on China trade
Federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl visits China this week, trying to drum up Canadian food sales and opportunities for investment in one of the world’s largest economies. He said he will be raising everything from the safety of Canadian beef to the health benefits of canola. “We have a good relationship but it can grow […] Read more
Mexican dairy deal leaves Canada cold
Mexico has resumed trade in live dairy heifers with the United States, much to the chagrin of Canadians who had expected Mexico to open its borders to Canada and the U.S. at the same time. While access to the Mexican market gives Americans a significant trade advantage over Canada, Mexico’s requirements are onerous and may […] Read more
Ag Notes
Monsanto scholarships Fifty-five Canadian high school students will receive $1,500 scholarships from Monsanto Canada to be used to pay tuition in their first year of post-secondary education in agricultural or forestry studies. The scholarships were distributed through Monsanto’s 2006 Opportunity Scholarship Program. Winning students were selected by an independent panel of judges and demonstrated outstanding […] Read more
