Link to northern port | An open market this fall and federal investment into Churchill port were factors in reopening the line
Canadian National Railway has had a change of heart about the value of an unused rail line in northeastern Saskatchewan. CN spokesperson John Brayley confirmed last month that the company will reopen an 85 kilometre section of its Tisdale Subdivision between Hudson Bay, Sask., and Crooked River, Sask. The line has not been used for […] Read moreTag Archives Ag Finance
CN to put Tisdale subdivision back on track
Public sector funding essential in ag research
Lack of strategic leadership | Ottawa’s cuts to research funding will drive scientists to other countries, warn researchers
Long-term public agricultural research is seriously underfunded, federal granting bodies downplay its importance and as a result, Canadian agricultural productivity is low, university researchers said last week. In a scathing assessment on the state of research delivered May 3 to the Senate agriculture committee, representatives of Canadian university agriculture faculties said there is a lack […] Read moreGranular inoculants require proper care
Granular inoculants are living organisms, despite their fertilizer-like appearance. Delivering them to the soil in good condition is critical to large rhizobial populations that will encourage pulse crops to fix their own nitrogen. Danielle Fletcher of inoculant maker Becker Underwood said granular products are designed to survive the harshness of spring weather, less than ideal […] Read more
Ag waste conversion receives funding boost
Research that turns vegetable oil and animal fat into high-value fuel, chemicals and solvents has received a financial boost from the federal government. Researchers at the University of Alberta have spent nine years creating a lipid-to-hydrocarbon technology that turns agricultural waste into valuable fuel. The $970,000 from Western Economic Diversification Canada will help establish a […] Read more
Documents show at least five suitors lined up to woo Viterra
At least five companies were vying for Viterra Inc. in the weeks leading up to the announcement that Glencore International was the successful suitor. That information is contained in an information circular the company released May 4 to shareholders who will vote May 29 in Calgary on the $6.1 billion deal. Viterra’s largest shareholder, AIMCo, […] Read more
Saturated soils return to parts of Prairies
Saskatchewan seeding weather One farm received 178 mm of rain since the end of March. Yorkton region is among hardest hit
It is a soggy deja vu for growers trying to seed a crop in eastern Saskatchewan. “We are saturated,” said Arlynn Kurtz, a producer from Stockholm, Sask. “Creeks are running fuller now than they were after spring melt.” His farm has received 178 milli-metres of rain since the end of March, which fell on already […] Read moreWTO weighs U.S. COOL ruling appeal
A final World Trade Organization judgment on the U.S. country-of-origin labelling rule is expected as early as late June. The WTO wrapped up appeal hearings May 3. The United States had appealed an earlier WTO ruling that said the COOL provisions were protectionist and contravened international trade rules. In Geneva, Canadian lawyers argued that the […] Read more
Chinese flax demand looks promising
Sales to Western Europe expected to be stagnant
A grain trader who recently travelled to Asia says China wants to buy flax from Canada and that demand for the oilseed will be strong during the next year. Grant Fehr, flax and special crops manager with Keystone Grain, a grain processor and marketer in Winkler, Man., met with grain dealers while visiting China in […] Read moreFederal appeal of CWB ruling set for May 23
The federal government and supporters of single desk grain marketing are going back to court. The two sides will appear before the Federal Court of Appeal May 23 to determine whether an earlier court ruling on the legality of Bill C-18 should stand. Late last year, Federal Court justice Douglas Campbell ruled that Parliament acted […] Read more
To marry or not to marry, common-law obligations the same
For those who wished to avoid the legal obligations of marriage, living together common law was once an option. But legislation relating to husbands and wives has changed and today, legally speaking, common-law unions are the same as marriages, including same-sex marriages. The law regards the spousal relationship as one of the most important legal […] Read more
