U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack believes his country is making progress as more dairy products move into Canada
The United States still isn’t thrilled about how Canada distributes its dairy market share, but Tom Vilsack, U.S. secretary of agriculture, said progress has been made in sending more U.S. dairy products to Canada. “Last year was a record for exports to Canada of dairy products,” he said during the Global Dairy Summit at the […] Read more
Frost-damaged fababeans may make suitable hog feed
Results of a Canadian research project show that pork producers may have a new, safe and low-cost feed source. Researchers with the University of Alberta, as well as the University Autónoma de Baja California and Mexicali, México, set out to establish the benefits of frost-damaged fababeans in pig diets. They found that feeding frost-damaged fababeans […] Read more
Livestock health emergencies require service evolution
Changes are happening at Animal Health Canada, which announced updates, including work on training and response programs and additions to its Emergency Management division staff. Erica Charlton, director of the division, delivered updates at the recent AHC forum in Ottawa. Charlton mentioned a new depopulation training project that is underway in partnership with ACER consulting. […] Read more
What does winter hold in store for the Prairies?
Looking back at October’s weather across the Prairies, we see it was yet another warm but dry month throughout much of the region. The data shows the eastern Prairies was the warmest region, except for Calgary. Winnipeg earned top spot for both the warmest mean temperature and warmest difference from average. As we move westward, […] Read more
Rail union launches court challenge to back-to-work order
OTTAWA — The union representing workers at Canada’s two main rail companies said today it had filed four court challenges against a ruling by the country’s industrial labour board that forced them back to work. The board on Saturday accepted a request from the government to order more than 9,000 Teamsters members back to work […] Read more
The looming rail strike: How did we get here?
Glacier FarmMedia – The labour dispute between Canada’s railways and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) reached a critical juncture on August 9. The Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ruled that rail service was not considered an essential service based on the Labour Code’s definition. Following the ruling, both railways issued statements threatening to lock […] Read more
Farmers want data strategy
WHITEHORSE — Data will drive productivity growth on Canadian farms, farm organizations told agriculture ministers last month. They called for a national data strategy during a roundtable at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture summer meeting and ahead of the federal-provincial-territorial annual ministerial meeting. “The agriculture sector is in the midst of a transition characterized less […] Read more
Potential Indigenous labour force should not be ignored
This story is part of a series looking into the pools of human talent within Canada’s population that could help fill the growing labour shortage that is crippling many farms. Farms are desperately short of workers. There are pools of workers right near many of these farms, but farmers don’t often look to them. They […] Read more
Ag Notes
BMO funds ag literacy The University of Calgary plans to launch a program to change how society perceives and interacts with the food system, funded by a $1 million donation from BMO. The program, called Ag Literacy for Healthier People and Planet, will “help build understanding about the complexities of the agricultural system” and the […] Read more
Irrigation must take soil needs into account: specialist
Len Hingley, an irrigation specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation, urges irrigators to consider proper rates based on soil media. “Rate is the amount of water that we apply at or below the infiltration rate of our soils, and it is driven by texture,” he said. Sand tops the list of soil particle sizes at […] Read more
