Egg Farmers of Alberta is following Manitoba’s lead and recommending that producers adopt alternative egg laying cages if they retrofit or build a new barn. The organization’s board of directors made the recommendation during its recent annual meeting, said marketing and communication manager David Webb. Webb said switching from conventional cages is not mandatory but […] Read more
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Producers urged to plan for new cages
Cows, horse shot inshooting spree
Five cows and one horse, including a young girl’s 4-H animals, were shot and killed by someone on a shooting spree west of Edmonton. Stony Plain RCMP insp. Gary Graham said the shootings happened in three different farmyards. Graham said the shootings of the animals appear random. “Some of highway signs appear to be shot. […] Read more
Legislation to follow lack of resolution in rail service review
Railway, shipper issues unresolved Legislation expected to be tabled after Parliament resumes sitting in late September
Transport Canada officials have the summer to prepare rail service legislation imposing rules on both railways and shippers negotiating shipper service agreements Legislation is expected to be tabled after Parliament resumes sittings in late September. “We have been contacted and told to have our comments in by the end of July,” Coalition of Rail Shippers […] Read moreNew program encourages more private sector investment in food aid
Prime minister Stephen Harper won praise from foreign aid and development activists last week for announcing a new international program that encourages the private sector to invest in food projects. During the G20 leaders’ meeting in Mexico, Harper championed a food program called AgResults, which will see governments set money aside to contribute when private […] Read more
Federal cutbacks could diminish aid
Canada’s international development and food aid reputation is strong but in the process of being diminished, says an international report card. It recommends a shakeup in government aid agencies and more financial commitment to the file. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) worried last week that after a decade of […] Read more
West Africans face starvation, hunger
Humanitarian Coalition appeal | War, crop failure, high input costs lead to food crisis
A coalition of Canadian food and development aid organizations is warning that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in West Africa as 18 million face hunger or starvation without help. The Humanitarian Coalition is appealing for Canadian help in the West African Sahel area where drought, harvest failure, high input costs and war have put millions […] Read moreAlways tell the truth in business and at home
FWIC briefs life lessons SIDNEY, B.C. — Businessman Peter Legge believes in telling the truth. Speaking at the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada triennial convention June 15, he told delegates to guard their integrity and moral principles. “There’s no such thing as business ethics. It’s all ethics,” said the chair and chief executive officer of […] Read more
Producers offer fresh options
Coupon book | Healthy nutrition, discounts to boost farm business
Alberta schoolchildren may have a new healthy fundraising option with a farm fresh coupon book. The tradition of selling chocolates to raise funds has hit a snag with many schools banning chocolate sales under a policy of emphasizing healthy eating. A new initiative by the Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association hopes to combine school fundraising […] Read moreCrushers in expansion mode
Canola oil in demand | Richardson Oilseed Ltd.’s plans to increase capacity by 1.7 million tonnes
North American canola growers will soon have access to another 1.7 million tonnes of crush capacity, which is the equivalent of adding two new Yorkton-sized plants to the landscape. Richardson Oilseed Ltd. is the latest industry player to announce a construction project. It is expanding its facility in Yorkton, Sask., to an annual capacity of […] Read moreExperts estimate modern cattle stem from 80 animals
Domestication difficult | With few wild aurochs in captivity, the progenitors of founder herds were few
LINDELL BEACH, B.C. — Modern science has told us taurine cattle descended from wild aurochs about 10,500 years ago. But it took the combined analysis of archaeozoological and genetic data using mitochondrial DNA from 15 Neolithic to Iron Age Iranian domestic cattle fossils to estimate that only 80 female aurochs were initially domesticated to form […] Read more
