Sea surface temperature anomalies (in degrees Celsius) over the equatorial Pacific for the week centred on Feb. 21. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

Spring outlook cooler for Prairies, warmer for Ontario

Reading Time: 3 minutes Growers in parts of Ontario may get an early start on planting this spring, while Prairie fields may see lingering snow and later-than-average last frosts. WeatherFarm’s spring forecast, powered by U.S.-based DTN Progressive Farmer, projects a cold start to the spring as likely for the western half of Canada, reversing the milder conditions shown over […] Read more

(Staff photo)

Dow, DuPont pick new married name for agribusiness

Reading Time: 2 minutes Dow Chemical and DuPont’s combined agriculture chemical and seed businesses will take a new name when they spin off from the merged parent firm next summer. DowDuPont announced Monday the agribusiness, which will include DuPont Crop Protection, DuPont Pioneer and Dow AgroSciences, will rebrand as Corteva Agriscience after its spinoff, expected by June 1 next […] Read more


Scott Moe discusses plans to lift the PST off insurance premiums in a Canadian Taxpayers Federation video. (CTF video screengrab via YouTube)

Saskatchewan pulls sales tax off farm insurance

Reading Time: 2 minutes Saskatchewan’s provincial government has reinstated a provincial sales tax (PST) exemption for agriculture, health and life insurance premiums. Premier Scott Moe on Monday announced the exemption will take effect retroactive to Aug. 1 last year, when the PST was first applied to insurance. The province said the exemption will include PST on premiums paid for […] Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (MEA.gov.in)

India, Canada to work up pulse export protocols

Reading Time: 2 minutes The prime ministers of Canada and India have agreed to sort out new and predictable rules governing exports of Canadian pulse crops. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on a state visit this week to India, released a joint statement with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday calling for the two countries to reach a new […] Read more


A vineyard in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. (British Columbia Wine Institute photo)

Alberta halts ban on B.C. wine

Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta will resume imports of wine from British Columbia starting Friday, as the B.C. government prepares to take its concerns over piping crude oil to court. In a brief statement Thursday, Alberta’s Premier Rachel Notley said the province has suspended its ban on B.C. wine and will again allow “ordering, receiving and transportation” of B.C. […] Read more

(WineBC.org)

B.C. plans trade challenge of Alberta’s wine ban

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Alberta government’s ban on imports of wine from British Columbia is poised to be the first case challenged under the new interprovincial Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). The British Columbia government announced Monday it will formally challenge the Alberta ban through the CFTA dispute settlement process. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley on Feb. 6 ordered […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Simplot to supersize Portage la Prairie fry plant

Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. agrifood giant J.R. Simplot plans to bulk up its potato processing footprint in southern Manitoba with a $460 million plant expansion. The company and the provincial government on Wednesday announced construction will begin this spring on a 280,000-square foot expansion at its 180,000-square foot french fry processing plant at Portage la Prairie. The expansion, […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Graham family)

Early canola promoter Gordon Graham, 89

Reading Time: < 1 minute A memorial is to be held in June in Brandon for a Prairie farmer who helped lead the charge on adoption of rapeseed as a crop, as it morphed into today’s canola. Gordon Graham, who farmed near Newdale, Man., about 75 km north of Brandon, died Wednesday at age 89 in Cochrane, Alta. Graham, an […] Read more


Tuberculosis bacteria under an electron microscope. (Janice Haney Carr photo courtesy Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.))

All quarantines lifted in bovine TB probe

Reading Time: 2 minutes The mystery of how six Prairie cattle caught a Mexican strain of bovine tuberculosis (TB) is now expected to remain a mystery indefinitely. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday announced quarantines have been lifted from all Prairie cattle operations tested during its probe of a bovine TB outbreak beginning in the fall of 2016. […] Read more

(AgricultureMoreThanEver.ca)

Farmers encouraged to make Agriculture Day meme-able

Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s farmers are being urged to make closer connections with the country’s non-farming consumers, in both the real world and cyberspace, as Canada’s Agriculture Day nears. Spearheaded by the year-round industry-backed initiative Agriculture More Than Ever, Canada’s Agriculture Day is set this year for Tuesday (Feb. 13). “It’s a time to showcase all of the […] Read more