Early submissions to the Canadian Grain Commission’s harvest sample program confirm what most growers suspected about Western Canada’s 2017-18 wheat crop. The quality of new crop durum and hard red spring wheat looks to be very good with few downgrading factors, low fusarium levels and excellent overall quality. “In terms of quality, everything that’s coming […] Read more
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Initial samples show high quality wheat
PotashCorp-Agrium merger gets approval
The Canadian Competition Bureau has granted unconditional regulatory approval for the proposed merger of Potash Corp. and Agrium. The bureau concluded that the proposed transaction is not likely to lead to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in a range of fertilizers. The regulatory review and approval process continues in the U.S., China and […] Read more
Author hopes book provides insight
Carey Gillam had little interest in agriculture, pesticides or GM technology in 1998, but now it’s become her life. Somewhere over the last two decades she realized that farming and food is “life.” “I don’t think there’s any more important topic,” she said. “It’s our families. It’s the food we serve our kids.” Gillam emphasizes […] Read more
Bayer invests in bio-fertilizer
CHICAGO, Ill. (Reuters) —Bayer AG, one of the world’s biggest agricultural chemical companies, is joining a US$100 million bet that the next big breakthrough in crop fertilizers will be found inside a biological Petri dish. Its Bayer LifeScience Center division, along with biotech firm Ginkgo Bioworks, is forming a startup to focus on developing biological […] Read more
Journalist or writer?
I have met former journalist Carey Gillam several times over the years while reporting in the same agricultural and commodity circles. On pages 48 and 49 this week you can read more about her and her recent book about the threat that she feels commercial agricultural practices bring to society — specifically, glyphosate use and […] Read more
Fruit breeders making it easy to pick from the tree
Biting into a shapely petite red Norland apple, newly picked from my tree and still warm from the sunshine, would not have been possible a century ago. Tree fruits then were too tender for the western Canadian climate, but thanks to the Morden Manitoba Research Centre, the horticulture department at the University of Saskatchewan and […] Read more
Ottawa tunes out prairie agricultural concerns
Ottawa is becoming steadily less friendly to agriculture, especially agriculture in the West. Rather than starting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, let’s look at the opposition. With Andrew Scheer as the new leader of the Conservatives, you’d think agriculture would have some priority. After all, Scheer is from Saskatchewan. However, so far he has […] Read more
Clubroot shows up in Sask.
The canola disease has been found in the province before now, but never in plants in a farmer’s field
Bernie McClean is considering posting no hunting signs on his farm near Glaslyn, Sask., in the wake of a clubroot discovery in his crop district. “I’m tempted to post everything from corner to corner. I don’t want a whole bunch of extra traffic on my land,” he said. “I don’t mean to be alarming, but […] Read moreAgropur takes full ownership of Ultima Foods
Canadian dairy processors Agropur Co-operative and Agrifoods International Co-operative Ltd. have an agreement for Agropur to become the sole owner of Ultima Foods Inc. Ultima Foods was a 50-50 joint venture of the two co-ops. The financial terms were not released. Ultima Foods makes about 30 percent of the yogurt consumed in Canada, including the […] Read more
WP welcomes new talent in Edmonton
It’s been a while since The Western Producer has had the opportunity to introduce some young blood into the newsroom. We have a staff of proverbial grizzled (or, depending on your point of view, notorious or legendary), veterans in Saskatoon and in our bureaus in Alberta, Regina and Manitoba. So, it’s good to welcome Jeremy […] Read more
