Quebec to shift priorities after CAAAQ report

Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec’s provincial government plans an overhaul of its ag income stabilization programs among other new policy priorities for its agriculture department, following the recent Pronovost report on the future of the ag industry. The report from the Commission sur l’avenir de l’agriculture et de l’agroalimentaire quebecois, released last month, urged a stronger focus on innovation, […] Read more

Alta. horse journal under new ownership

Reading Time: < 1 minute Horses All, a monthly newspaper for the Alberta and western Canadian horse industries, has a new owner in Winnipeg publishing house Farm Business Communications. Horses All was published and edited respectively by Steve and Cindy Mark of Calgary. The paper has operated since 1977 and covers news and events across the equine sector. Its fields […] Read more


JRI to expand Hamilton terminal

Reading Time: < 1 minute James Richardson International plans to boost the capacity of its crop terminal at Hamilton, Ont. by over half. The Winnipeg company, which last month announced eight storage and rail car capacity expansion projects at seven of its Pioneer Grain elevators in the three Prairie provinces, said Thursday it will add 15,000 tonnes of storage capacity […] Read more

Conservation tillage promoter, CFIA director honoured

Reading Time: 2 minutes A soil scientist who for years has advocated for conservation tillage and an executive director at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency among five federal civil servants earning awards for “exceptional service” to the country. Wayne Lindwall of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada was named Wednesday to receive the annual Outstanding Achievement Award of the Public Service […] Read more


Man. green groups rip hog review

Reading Time: 2 minutes The provincial government’s move Monday to halt any further development of the hog sector in much of eastern Manitoba doesn’t go far enough, according to a coalition of groups advocating smaller-scale farming. In a press conference Wednesday in Winnipeg, representatives of groups including HogWatch Manitoba and Beyond Factory Farming called for the provincial government to […] Read more

Kickstart application deadline extended

Reading Time: < 1 minute Farmers’ deadline to apply for a share of $600 million in federal “Kickstart” funding for the new AgriInvest program has been extended from March 31 to April 14. “This extension will ensure farmers have enough time to learn about AgriInvest and the money available to kickstart their accounts,” Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in a […] Read more


Nova Scotia pledges $1.9M for cattle sector

Reading Time: < 1 minute Nova Scotia’s government plans a $1.9 million round of direct payments to the province’s cattle producers. The provincial agriculture department said in a release Wednesday that it will flow the funding directly to producers through its programs and business risk management division. Details will be provided next week, the department said. “The department identified short-term […] Read more

Quebec hog sector report overdue

Reading Time: < 1 minute Quebec’s hog sector is waiting on a report the province commissioned for a March 3 deadline, on ways to revive the industry. Guy Coulombe, a longtime provincial civil servant, was appointed in September by Agriculture Minister Laurent Lessard to enter into talks between principal players in the hog production and pork processing sectors and file […] Read more


Ont. ag traceback agency chooses “key”

Reading Time: < 1 minute GS1 Canada, a non-profit agency that maintains global standards for identifying goods and locations, will register Ontario farmers in a project with OnTrace, the provincial food traceability agency, to allow buyers to track food back to its home farm. GS1 will work with OnTrace to give Ontario farmers access to the GS1 global location number […] Read more

Arbitration could cost farmers “tens of millions”: CWB

Reading Time: 2 minutes A proposed federal bill that would compel the Canadian Wheat Board into arbitration over its grain handling agreements could cost farmers “tens of millions” of dollars per year, the CWB said Tuesday. “This legislation would essentially take money from farmers and hand it over to the grain companies,” said CWB chief operating officer Ward Weisensel […] Read more