OUTLOOK, Sask. – The walnut-sized potatoes that are usually thrown into the compost pile in home gardens are offering commercial growers new markets and better prices. Driven by trends in Europe and fuelled by increasingly health conscious Canadian consumers moving away from french fries, Saskatchewan growers are considering small potato varieties in their field rotations. […] Read more
News
Big future expected for little potatoes
Strahl targets U.S. food worries
Federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl thinks Canada can avoid the inconvenience and cost of increased food inspection at the United States border by proving the measures are unnecessary. In August, the U.S. government proposed a new charge on Canadian food products crossing the border to raise $77 million toward the increased cost of inspecting food […] Read more
Husky almost ready to open ethanol facility
The Prairies’ burgeoning ethanol industry is about to take a big step forward. The Husky Energy ethanol plant at Lloydminster, Sask., has been conducting test runs since mid-August and is expected to go into full commercial production in the next month or two. “We’ve been doing test batches of ethanol, calibrating our equipment, fine-tuning the […] Read more
Organics industry misses goals
The organic industry needs a new set of goals because there’s no way it is achieving the old ones, says an industry official. Four years ago the industry challenged itself to increase its share of the retail market to 10 percent by 2010. It now appears that plan is far too ambitious. “It needs to […] Read more
CGC report packed with reforms
Rules governing the Canadian Grain Commission must be strengthened, modernized and up-ended to improve producer protection and to allow the commission to contract out some inspection services, says a wide-ranging consultant’s report introduced in Parliament. One of the most explosive recommendations is that the grain commission should lose its immunity from lawsuits if a licensed […] Read more
Green’s ag policy needs work: leader
Green party leader Elizabeth May conceded last week that the party’s agriculture policy needs work if it is going to appeal to more farm voters. She vowed to strengthen it in time for the next election. At the core of the policy approved at the party’s August convention is a proposal that Agriculture Canada refocus […] Read more
Strahl names CWB critic as director
A longtime opponent of single desk marketing has been appointed a director of the Canadian Wheat Board. After rejecting a proposal from the CWB that an independent headhunting firm prepare a list of candidates, CWB minister Chuck Strahl selected Ken Motiuk, a farmer from Mundare, Alta. Motiuk, whose background includes stints on the board of […] Read more
Producers pool carbon credits
More than 2,200 Saskatchewan farmers have signed on with a Regina company brokering carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange, or CCX. Farmers had until Aug. 3 to sign on with C-Green Aggregators to qualify for retroactive payments for carbon credits from land that was minimum-tilled from 2003 to 2006. C-Green will sell those credits […] Read more
Future of pork plant questioned
Hog industry analysts say a $50 million expansion to Maple Leaf’s Brandon plant spells the end to the company’s proposed $110 million slaughter facility in Saskatoon. Florian Possberg, chief executive officer of Big Sky Farms Inc., one of Canada’s largest hog production operations, said in an environment where the appreciating Canadian dollar is squeezing the […] Read more
Coming Events
Sept. 23: South East Saskatchewan Reining Horse Association reining jackpot, Coalfields Equine Center, Bienfait, Sask. (Rhonda, 306-388-2253) Sept. 23: Harvest Moon Fiddle Festival, AgriCentre, Radway, Alta. (Joanie, 780-942-2937) Sept. 28: Climate Action Network and Saskatchewan Environmental Society workshop, Grace Westminster Church, Saskatoon (Sask Environmental Society, 306-665-1915) Sept. 29-30: Trade show, Unity, Sask. (Audrey, 306-228-3040) Sept. […] Read more
