British Columbia ranchers in need of hay may still get an early Christmas present from Alberta farmers despite disagreements between the organizers and B.C. government officials about load regulations. Hay West organizer Joe Niessen hopes to have two or three more truckloads of donated hay leave Alberta for hard-hit B.C. ranchers on Dec. 13. But […] Read more
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Hay trucks must follow B.C. rules
Oat marketer looks for extra zing
NISKU, Alta. – The oats farmers grow in the future may produce more bushels, be healthier for the heart and may even have a slight taste of vanilla. The main research will continue to be on varietal development, but Quaker Oats, one of the largest users of oats, is also searching for that something extra […] Read more
War on hunger suffers setback
The war on hunger and the 1996 promise by world leaders to cut it in half in 20 years is no longer practical or reachable, hunger advocates concede. “Hunger is on the rise again after falling steadily during the first half of the 1990s,” the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization stated in a report […] Read more
Cattle producers, next PM cosy up
Prime-minister-in-waiting Paul Martin is already receiving kudos from western cattle ranchers for his response to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis. “At least he has had the decency to come out and meet with the cattle producers. We never even once heard from Chrétien. He just kind of stayed off the trail,” said Blair Vold, one […] Read more
Demurrage battle ends in CP’s favour
Almost two years after it began, a dispute over rail car demurrage charges levied by Canadian Pacific Railway has reached the end of the line. And the railway has come out on top. At issue was whether demurrage fees collected by CP in crop years 2001 and 2002 should count as revenue under the federal […] Read more
From killing filds to trading floor
CHICAGO, Ill. – It’s a Wednesday morning in Chicago and grain traders are more frenzied than usual, reacting to the latest U.S. crop data released by the government. In the midst of the flurry -traders screaming at the top of their lungs and waving frantically at one another – stands one man whose background is […] Read more
Meat packers may be put through grinder
Canadian packers should brace themselves for an angry backlash when the American border reopens to live cattle exports, says a well-known Alberta auction mart owner. Cattle producers are full of bitterness and resentment over perceived ill treatment at the hands of the packing industry, said Blair Vold, president of Vold, Jones and Vold Auction Co. […] Read more
New gov’t angers Ont. farmers
Barely a month into his term as Ontario agriculture minister, Steve Peters already is finding that the honeymoon with provincial farm leaders is fading. He came into office in late October promising to be a farmer advocate in the new Liberal regime and farm leaders welcomed him. Then, the government made several decisions that had […] Read more
Study eases GMO fears
Almost a decade after genetically modified crops were first approved for widespread planting in Canada, the government is trying to find out if those crops are harming the soil in which they grow, says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. An Environment Canada study on the effects of Bt toxin on the soil began in March […] Read more
Sask. may allow cull pay without kill
Saskatchewan cattle producers may not have to slaughter their culls to get provincial government assistance. Agriculture minister Clay Serby was expected to go to cabinet Dec. 9 with a proposal similar to what British Columbia and Alberta have offered. That means producers would be eligible for payments based on a percentage of their breeding herds […] Read more
