The president of a prairie farmer-based coalition vying to take ownership of more than 12,000 government-owned grain rail cars says Ottawa appears to be on the cusp of making a favourable decision, perhaps as early as spring. Saskatchewan farmer Sinclair Harrison, president of the Farmer Rail Car Coalition, said Jan. 22 he is confident the […] Read more
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Top court hears Schmeiser case
Most of the time, it was difficult to find the farmer in it. The Supreme Court of Canada heard the celebrated case of Percy Schmeiser versus Monsanto Canada Inc., and it was largely a day of legal arguments and lawyerly dissertation on the finer points of patent law. Monsanto opponents had promoted it as a […] Read more
South China markets ripe for viruses
NANZHENCUN, China – Duck breeder Chen Huaping thinks Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, as flu-like infections go, is mere chicken feed. Last October, he witnessed the wrath of bird flu first hand when a freshly bought yellow duckling dropped dead in his backyard 30 kilometres outside the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. Within a week, the […] Read more
Speller woos Manitobans
Trevor Atchison was enthused after listening to the thoughts of federal agriculture minister Bob Speller, who was in Brandon last week to deliver his views on a range of agricultural issues. Atchison, a cattle producer from Pipestone, Man., said Speller spoke with conviction and sincerity and he drew rounds of applause from a crowd of […] Read more
Rumours fly over CFIP payment
Rumours circulating that farmers will not receive their full cash entitlements from the Canadian Farm Income Program are not true – yet. The last of the applications for the 2002 claim year are being processed now and should be done in early February, said CFIP spokesperson Ellen Funk. That’s when officials will know if there […] Read more
Ag Notes
New deputy ag minister Gord Nystuen has left his position as Saskatchewan’s deputy agriculture minister to become chief of staff to premier Lorne Calvert. Nystuen had served as deputy minister to Clay Serby since September 2000. Hal Cushon has been named acting deputy. He has worked for the department for several years and was most […] Read more
OFA likes new ag approach
It isn’t so much what agriculture minister Bob Speller is saying but how he is saying it that is giving the new minister good farmer reviews after his first six weeks in office, says the leader of Ontario’s largest farm group. On Jan. 21, Speller met the Ontario Federation of Agriculture board of directors and […] Read more
Study points to small farm successes
Glen and Doreen Hicks stopped to ask themselves an important question a few years ago. Did they want to make their farm at Ninga, Man., bigger or were there other ways to make a comfortable living from the land without going into more debt and running themselves ragged? A seminar in holistic management helped them […] Read more
Precision farming gets more precise
BRANDON – With precision farming tools such as yield monitors becoming as common as air conditioning on new combines, it is time to get serious about collecting and analyzing the information they produce. That was the message Steve Tupa, head of global technology for equipment maker Agco, delivered to farmers attending Ag Days in Brandon […] Read more
People willing to pay for fun
WETASKIWIN, Alta. – Some farmers may roll their eyes, others may roll over in their graves upon hearing about entertainment farming. But an Ontario family has tapped into the new and profitable business and is eager to talk about it. Instead of growing wheat or milking cows, Saunders Farm invites people to their farm to […] Read more
