Reading Time: 2 minutes Mediation has led to a settlement agreement in principle for the Toronto pet food maker among the companies hit hardest by last year’s pet food scare involving Chinese melamine. Menu Foods announced Tuesday that the parties to a multi-district lawsuit by pet owners in both the U.S. and Canada have reached a “comprehensive, cross-border agreement […] Read more
Pet food settlement in sight: Menu Foods
Harmony K cleared for durum
Reading Time: < 1 minute DuPont Canada has picked up regulatory approval for use of its herbicide tank-mix Harmony K in durum wheat crops. Harmony K combines the herbicides Refine Extra, Horizon and Banvel II in a lone 40-acre box along with Score, an adjuvant to improve the tank mix. The approval, announced Monday, clears the Harmony tank mix to […] Read more
WTO body rips EU ban on Canadian beef
Reading Time: 2 minutes A World Trade Organization panel has found the European Union’s ban on Canadian and U.S. beef to be inconsistent with the bloc’s WTO obligations, but doesn’t let Canada off the hook for its retaliation. The EU since 1989 has banned Canadian and U.S. beef from hormone-treated cattle, while the two exporters claim the Europeans have […] Read more
Provinces approve APF extensions
Reading Time: 2 minutes Agriculture ministers for Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador have signed on the line to officially extend most of the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) programming in their provinces through to April 1, 2009 at the latest. “Continuing programs will allow for a smooth transition to Growing Forward and will provide certainty for our farmers […] Read more
CWB to offer organic spring contracts
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Wheat Board will extend its pilot organic marketing program by offering organic grain growers spring contracts on a limited basis for 2008-09, starting in mid-April. Contract availability is limited and will be determined by market opportunities, the board said in a release Friday. The marketing program includes a cash price upon delivery and, […] Read more
Ottawa tops up Ont. ethanol plant’s tank
Reading Time: < 1 minute IGPC Ethanol, a farmer-backed corn ethanol project southeast of London, Ont., has picked up $3.9 million in federal funding. Joe Preston, an Ontario MP, announced the funding Friday from the federal ecoAgriculture Biofuels Capital (ecoABC) initiative for the project, spearheaded by the Integrated Grain Processors Co-operative at Aylmer. IGPC’s plan calls for a 150 million-litre […] Read more
Flax processing among dairy projects funded
Reading Time: 2 minutes A study on processing flax as a feed supplement for dairy cows and development of a greenhouse gas calculator for the dairy sector are among four projects in Atlantic Canada sharing $1.1 million in new federal funding. The funding, announced Friday in Fredericton by New Brunswick MP Mike Allen, will flow through the Advancing Canadian […] Read more
Volatility trims 2008-09 wheat PROs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Continued volatility in new-crop U.S. wheat futures has taken $2 per tonne off the Canadian Wheat Board’s pool return outlook (PRO) for most grades of new-crop milling wheat. In its latest PRO, released Thursday, the CWB said global production estimates still point to a “significantly larger” wheat crop in the coming year and crop conditions […] Read more
Potato insecticide gets four-year reprieve
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian potato growers have been granted another four years’ use of Thimet 15G to control wireworm, for lack of reasonable alternatives. Engage Agro, the Guelph company that markets crop protection products such as Thimet for Canadian niche crops, and Amvac, the insecticide’s Los Angeles manufacturer, on Thursday announced the product had won yet another reprieve […] Read more
NAFTA partners standardize breeding cattle trade
Reading Time: 2 minutes A deal to harmonize North America to international standards for trade in breeding cattle will end a ban by several U.S. state governments against Canadian breeding stock entering Mexico through their border ports. The three North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, announced Thursday that they’ve agreed to harmonize trade […] Read more