Harvest has ground to a halt in much of Western Canada due to rain and snow. Other than the date, you could easily mistake today's crop update from Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture with the report from last week, as the overall harvest progress number was left unchanged at 81 percent. (And that's versus 80 percent... Read More
Category: News
After reports this summer that it was moving to Saskatoon, the hosts of the Canadian Finals Rodeo since 1974 say the event is staying in Edmonton. With what was expected to be the last go-round for the rodeo in Edmonton just days away, Northlands and the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association announced Wednesday they've reached a... Read More
Crop hail insurance claims in Western Canada were up around 50 percent in 2016 versus last year. The number of claims rose from 13,222 in 2015 to 19,854 in 2016, according to the Canadian Crop Hail Association's final report for the season. It's estimated payouts to farmers will total just over $256 million — well... Read More
Ontario dairy co-op Gay Lea Foods and BC-based dairy ingredient supplier Vitalus Nutrition have announced a joint investment in dairy processing in Manitoba. The joint venture's plans include upgrading an existing food processing plant in Winnipeg, which will increase drying capacity in Western Canada and expand butter production. “Gay Lea Foods is excited by the... Read More
Manitoba-based pork processor and producer HyLife Foods has announced plans for a major expansion. The company says it's investing up to $125 million in its main processing plant at Neepawa and new finishing barns to supply it. Work is expected to begin in 2017. The expansion comes as a result of growing demand for Canadian... Read More
Deere & Company has reached a deal to provide a precision agriculture competitor with products from the planting equipment company it's in the process of buying. If Deere completes its acquisition of Precision Planting from Monsanto's Climate Corporation, it will provide Ag Leader with licenses and technology to manufacture and sell Precision Planting's SpeedTube, and... Read More
Mildew doesn't impact the milling qualities of wheat as much as it affects appearance, according to a two-year study conducted by the Canadian Grain Commission. For this reason, the CGC says it's allowing an increased presence of mildew in milling wheat classes in Western Canada effective immediately. The commission initiated the study after extensive downgrading... Read More
The federal agriculture minister says the prime minister's announcement of a national carbon pricing framework this week shouldn't come as a surprise to the farm community. Lawrence MacAulay also says it will be up to the provinces to decide how agriculture fits into their carbon policies. Ottawa will require provinces implement a minimum price on... Read More
With a count of 198 nays to 84 yeas, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith's controversial private member's bill C-246 was voted down in the House of Commons this week. This means the bill is dead and will not move forward to committee. Titled "The Modernizing Animal Protections Act," Liberal MP Erskine-Smith's bill focused on banning shark finning and... Read More
Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blindsided not just provincial environment ministers but also premiers (and perhaps Canadians) by announcing a national carbon tax scheme that must be implemented by 2018. Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall released an emotionally-charged statement yesterday outlining how detrimental the carbon tax platform will be to Saskatchewan's economy and the cost to... Read More