Reading Time: 2 minutes Calgary craft brewer Big Rock Brewery has picked a vacant warehouse in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant area for the site of a bigger-than-expected second brewery. The company had announced plans last September to set up and open a second brewery somewhere in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland region, expecting to spend in the range of $1.5 million […] Read more
Calgary’s Big Rock picks B.C. brewery site
Cows learn dairying faster when housed together: study
Reading Time: 2 minutes Housing new dairy cows in pairs rather than individual pens could improve their ability to learn new feeding and milking technologies, a new B.C. study suggests. The study by Rebecca Meagher, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, shows dairy calves become better at learning by way of a “buddy system” — and […] Read more
Weyburn Terminal shareholders approve sale
Reading Time: 2 minutes Updated, March 3, 2014 — Shareholders in southeastern Saskatchewan grain handler Weyburn Inland Terminal have given their blessing to a Winnipeg suitor’s proposal. Farmer-owned WIT late Friday reported approval from 79.79 per cent of shares voted, in person or by proxy, for a friendly takeover by Winnipeg agrifood firm Parrish and Heimbecker. The vote was […] Read more
Vetoquinol to buy Bioniche animal health business
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario medical and veterinary drugmaker Bioniche Life Sciences has picked a suitor for the animal health portion of its business. Belleville-based Bioniche announced Thursday it has reached a deal to sell its animal health business to France-based veterinary pharma firm Vetoquinol for $61 million, pending shareholder approval and other closing conditions. Bioniche’s animal health business […] Read more
Feds back farm safety training ahead of Ag Safety Week
Reading Time: < 1 minute A five-year federal funding pledge for the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) is expected to help fund more farm safety training and monitoring progress towards safer farms. Candice Bergen, the federal minister of state for social development, announced the funding through the Fostering Business Development stream of AgriCompetitiveness — a $114-million program under Growing Forward […] Read more
Prairie rail jams putting Canadian millers in shutdown mode
Reading Time: < 1 minute A rail backlog keeping Prairie wheat and oats from arriving at Canadian mills has already forced some millers to suspend operations, according to the millers’ organization. In the Feb. 27 issue of the Manitoba Co-operator, Canadian National Millers Association (CNMA) president Gordon Harrison notes “prolonged interruptions of up to three to four weeks” in wheat […] Read more
CN shutting parts of Prairie main lines for weekend
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canadian National Railway (CN) plans to close down several stretches of its main line on the Prairies for the weekend starting Friday night, citing “ongoing extreme cold weather.” CN said in an email Friday (Feb. 28) it will suspend operations from 8 p.m. local time until 8 a.m. Monday morning (March 3) on six subdivisions. […] Read more
PEDv arrives in North Dakota
Reading Time: 2 minutes North Dakota has become the seventh U.S./Canadian border state with a case of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in its hog herd. The lone case so far was confirmed this week on a hog farm in the eastern part of the state, North Dakota State University said Thursday. As of Sunday, before North Dakota’s confirmation, the […] Read more
Juice supply deal to rescue S. Ont. tomato operations
Reading Time: 2 minutes Growers in southern Ontario’s tomato capital may soon resume plans for a 2014 crop, as Heinz’s storied processing plant in the region switches from ketchup to juice under a proposal to save the plant from closure. H.J. Heinz Co. announced Thursday it’s signed a letter of intent to sell the U.S. company’s Leamington, Ont. plant […] Read more
Rules now on books to enforce hog traceability for July 1
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hog farmers and handlers in Canada now officially have until July 1 to get their operations Pigtrace-compatible. Amendments to the federal Health of Animals Regulations were published Wednesday in the Canada Gazette to make traceability of farmed pigs mandatory effective July 1 this year. The same rules will also apply to farmed wild boars starting […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
