Reading Time: 2 minutes Hog industry officials in Western Canada want hog producers to insist that livestock trailers coming to their farms be washed at certified Canadian cleaning facilities — even if the trailers were just cleaned on the U.S. side of the border. The recommendation comes as a federally-approved trailer-wash pilot project, credited with helping to keep porcine epidemic diarrhea […] Read more
West’s hog farmers urged to insist trailers cleaned in Canada
Cost index for railways’ grain revenue cap gets boost
Reading Time: 2 minutes The loonie’s decline since last year has led federal regulators to dial up the index guiding how much money Canada’s big two railways get to keep from hauling Prairie grain. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) announced Friday it will raise its volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) by 4.8 per cent, to 1.3275, for the 2016-17 […] Read more
Earls ups ante on beef sourcing
Reading Time: 2 minutes Vancouver-based Earls Restaurants, owner of the upscale-casual dining chain Earls Kitchen + Bar, has gone all in on Certified Humane Beef — but has also gone outside Canada to get it. The company, which operates 59 Earls restaurants in Canada and seven in the U.S., on Tuesday billed itself as the first North American chain […] Read more
Farms.com buys Better Farming
Reading Time: 2 minutes A U.S. online agriculture firm has taken another step into paper and ink with a deal for independent Ontario ag journal Better Farming. Ames, Iowa-based Farms.com announced last week it has taken a majority stake in Better Farming publisher Ag Media Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Ag Media was formed in 1999 by ex-employees of […] Read more
CN books lower first-quarter grain handle
Reading Time: 2 minutes Higher revenue per carload offset reduced grain and fertilizer traffic for Canadian National Railway (CN) in its first fiscal quarter. Montreal-based CN on Monday reported overall net income of $792 million on total revenues of $2.964 billion for the quarter ending March 31, up from $704 million on $3.098 billion in the year-earlier Q1. The […] Read more
CP pulls more grain for less in first quarter
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) hauled more carloads of Canadian grain in its first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year — but for less revenue per car. Calgary-based CP on Wednesday reported overall net income of $540 million on revenues of $1.591 billion for its quarter ending March 31, up from $320 […] Read more
Ontario court rejects grower appeal on neonic rules
Reading Time: 2 minutes The group representing Ontario’s corn and soybean growers, seeking a stay on the province’s new restrictions for use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, won’t get its wish from the provincial Court of Appeal. The appeal court on Wednesday dismissed a March 9 application from Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) seeking an interpretation of the province’s new […] Read more
Manitoba ag minister unseated in Tory sweep
Reading Time: 2 minutes Manitoba’s incumbent agriculture minister was among the casualties in Tuesday’s provincial election as Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservatives swept the New Democrats from office. Ron Kostyshyn lost his seat Tuesday to Tory candidate Rick Wowchuk, a schoolteacher from Swan River, by a spread of over 1,500 votes. Kostyshyn, a cow-calf producer from Ethelbert, Man., had been […] Read more
Nova Scotia pledges food donation tax credit in budget
Reading Time: 2 minutes A tax credit for Nova Scotia farmers who donate produce to local food banks is among the policy plans laid out in the province’s latest budget. Finance Minister Randy Delorey’s budget on Tuesday showed an overall $17.1 million net surplus position on $10.15 billion in total expenses and $10.26 billion in total revenues (minus $110.3 […] Read more
Rail interswitching rule seen already paying dividends
Reading Time: 3 minutes A 2014 federal rule that expanded rail options for some Prairie grain shippers has already made for more competitive freight rates and service and should be renewed this summer, commodity groups say. Pulse Canada, Grain Growers of Canada and Alberta’s crop commissions on Tuesday called on the federal government to extend provisions from the previous […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
