Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper and his government are under pressure lately, whether it be the robocall scandal or questions over the F-35 fighter jet deal. So when there’s a bright spot in government policy efforts, as now exists in the trade file, it deserves to be recognized. Recently, Harper, trade minister Ed Fast, foreign […] Read more
Tag Archives Ag Finance
Federal trade agenda vital to agricultural prosperity
Research looks at lameness
Researchers at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine are undertaking five projects to explore and reduce lameness in newly arrived feedlot calves. Funded by the Beef Cattle Research Council, the projects’ goal is to better understand the incidence and types of lameness that affect feedlot animals, particularly P3 necrosis, which affects the outside claw of […] Read more
Extra early work worth the effort
For many years, I watched fall frost kill my sweet peas, even though they were still blooming. My Zone 2 garden often gets a frost in early September. How maddening to see the plants cut down just as they were coming into peak production. A few years ago, I wondered if sweet peas could be […] Read more
Long buried corn specimens provide crop development clues
Ancient society studied Excavations in South America show pre-Inca people used corn for popcorn and corn flour
LINDELL BEACH, B.C. — People who lived along the coastal regions of Peru were eating popcorn 1,000 years earlier than previously recorded. In fact, they were chewing corn kernels and popping them in campfires even before pottery had been invented. “These people were pre-Inca coastal people,” said Tom Dillehay with Vanderbilt University’s anthropology department in […] Read moreProducer learns insurance covers truck, not sheep
Extra insurance required | Cost on $100,000 of livestock would cost $400
A southern Alberta farmer who lost 22 sheep when they were trucked to Alberta from Saskatchewan recommends livestock producers buy transit insurance before hauling livestock long distances. Bert Peeters thought livestock insurance was included in the cost of trucking the 390 sheep 900 kilo-metres to Duchess, Alta., from Kelvington, Sask. “I thought I had insurance […] Read moreNew crop shoots for the skies
Oilseed for aviation fuel | Contracts offer $12.50 per bushel plus $40 per acre new crop incentive
Promoters of a new oilseed insist growers won’t experience the same payment problems that occurred with camelina. Agrisoma Biosciences Inc. and Paterson Grain have entered into a long-term partnership for the commercial contracting and distribution of carinata. The crop will be marketed under the brand name Resonance. Paterson has contracted about 6,000 acres of the […] Read moreCowboy works the range, then works the ring
VAWN, Sask. — Boxing is in David Edwards’ blood, but being a cowboy comes first. While the 14-year-old dreams of boxing for Canada in the Olympics, he would like nothing better than to ride the range for a community pasture. He trains his own horses and en-joys riding on his family’s 600 acre spread, tucked […] Read more
Multiple factors contribute to pocket pain at the gas pump
Rising gasoline prices are grabbing headlines with some analysts warning that the high cost of fuel could stall the weak economic revival. The debate about who to blame — speculators, Middle Eastern tensions, government policy — is hotter than ever. It appears a combination of factors are at work: rising world demand for oil, political […] Read more
Preventive strikes ineffective when fighting crown rust
Fungicide research | Apply only when crown rust is present in field
There’s a growing belief that foliar fungicides will increase the quality and yield of oats even if crown rust is not present. Not so fast, says William May, a crop agronomist with Agriculture Canada. May and his team from the department’s Indian Head Research Farm conducted three years of field tests in Western Canada to […] Read morePork prices to rebound after ‘pink slime’
Pork should be able to wipe the “pink slime” off its prices and regain some of the value it has lost in recent weeks, say meat market analysts. The controversy has been about beef, not pork, they say, and pork supplies are barely increasing this year, regardless of high prices. As well, beef supplies are […] Read more
