WGRF 2007 tax credits announced

Reading Time: 2 minutes Checkoff dollars paid on Prairie wheat and Saskatchewan and Manitoba barley will be 82 and 85 per cent eligible respectively toward federal research tax credits for 2007, the Western Grains Research Foundation announced Monday. Wheat growers in all three Prairie provinces can claim 82 per cent of their checkoff payment toward a tax credit at […] Read more

CFIA eyes feed rules for biofuel grains

Reading Time: 3 minutes Grains left over from making fuel aren’t the same as distillers’ grains left over from brewing beer — and if biofuel grains are to be fed to livestock, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency plans to regulate their use. CFIA on Monday rolled out a draft policy paper outlining its proposed new regulations on the use […] Read more


Levinoff-Colbex needs more producer cash: report

Reading Time: 2 minutes Farmer-owned Quebec beef packer Levinoff-Colbex needs more funds from the province’s dairy and beef producers if it’s to survive, according to the province’s cattle producer group. In a member newsletter released Friday, the Federation des producteurs de bovins du Quebec (FPBQ) said the beef plant ended 2007 with a loss due to a lower number […] Read more

Equipment maker Ag Growth posts lower net

Reading Time: 2 minutes Tax expenses affecting income trusts and a narrower margin due to renovation at its highest-margin business weighed on Winnipeg grain handling equipment firm Ag Growth’s net earnings for 2007. And the company said it plans to boost its margin in 2008 with further price increases on some of its products this year, over and above […] Read more


Quebec pledges $15M for food innovation

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Quebec government will put up $15 million over five years for a competitiveness and innovation program for the province’s agri-food sector. The funding, announced Saturday by Agriculture Minister Laurent Lessard at the annual meeting of the province’s food processors’ council (CTAC), is meant to support processors’ research and development projects for products in line […] Read more

Funding eyed for Sask. cellulosic ethanol plant

Reading Time: < 1 minute The federal NextGen Biofuels Fund has sent Ottawa enzyme maker Iogen’s funding application for a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol pilot plant in Saskatchewan to the “due diligence” phase. The decision brings Iogen’s proposal “one step closer to making our country’s first full-scale cellulosic ethanol fuel facility a reality,” federal Environment Minister John Baird said in a […] Read more


Que. ag minister orders pork industry meeting

Reading Time: < 1 minute Quebec Agriculture Minister Laurent Lessard has called a meeting for next week with representatives of the province’s pork processors and hog producers to find out their next move, after talks toward a revival for the battered sector went bust. Lessard, in a news release Friday, said he was strongly disappointed that talks led by his […] Read more

Soybean inoculants approved for West

Reading Time: < 1 minute The inoculant maker formerly known as Philom Bios has picked up registration to market TagTeam Soybean and N-Prove Soybean liquid inoculants in Western Canada. Novozymes BioAg — as the Saskatoon firm was named after it sold itself to Danish enzyme firm Novozymes late last year — said its TagTeam Soybean liquid inoculant will only be […] Read more


Agropur buys Lamothe dairy

Reading Time: < 1 minute Dairy co-op Agropur plans to make inroads in the Centre-du-Quebec and organic milk markets by buying Laitierie Lamothe, a Drummondville, Que. dairy. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in the company’s announcement Friday, other than that the Lamothe operations will join the Agropur division Natrel, billed as “a Canadian leader in fluid milk and value-added […] Read more

Agrium extends UAP offer, again

Reading Time: 2 minutes Fertilizer firm Agrium has extended its offer to buy U.S. ag retailer UAP for a fourth time while it works toward approval from U.S. antitrust regulators. The US$39-per-share offer, which was most recently extended to March 14, will now be open until midnight (ET), April 30, during which time the company hopes to resolve what […] Read more