Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta is set to launch Canada’s first crop insurance product for malt barley this year. The province’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) last week said it will now provide insurance coverage for a malting end-use for growers with malt barley contracts. The coverage is subject to a contract from a licensed buyer, with a minimum […] Read more
Alberta to launch malt barley insurance
Canada clears Simplot’s spot-resistant GM potato
Reading Time: 2 minutes Potatoes modified for reduced bruising and black spots, and for lower levels of a chemical linked to health risks in baked spuds or fries, have picked up federal approvals. The plant science arm of U.S. potato giant J.R. Simplot announced Monday its first-generation Innate Gen. 1 potato varieties have passed food and feed safety assessments […] Read more
Major grocers pledge cage-free eggs by 2025
Reading Time: 3 minutes The grocery arm of the body for Canadian retailers has rolled out a 10-year plan to source the eggs its members sell from layer hens raised in “cage-free environments.” The grocer members of the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), which include Loblaw, Sobeys/Safeway, Metro and Wal-Mart Canada, said Friday they are “voluntarily committing to the […] Read more
Nitrates to linger for decades in N-heavy waterways, study finds
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lakes, rivers, streams and well water high in nitrates will stay that way for another 35 years or more, even if farmers in those watersheds were to stop applying nitrogen (N) fertilizer on their fields today, a new study shows. The study of the Mississippi River basin, published Tuesday by Canadian and U.S. researchers, shows […] Read more
Worker shortfall a three per cent hit for farms: Study
Reading Time: 2 minutes Having the Canadian economy’s highest job vacancy rate has cost the country’s primary ag sector three per cent of its value, new research shows. The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council on Tuesday released labour market information (LMI) research which, based on data for 2014, pegged primary agriculture’s annual farm cash receipt losses at $1.5 billion, […] Read more
Liberals pressed on PACA pledge for produce growers
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal opposition New Democrats have cherry-picked a Liberal election promise to fruit and vegetable growers seeking insurance against U.S. and Canadian buyers who dodge their bills. Tracey Ramsey, the NDP’s international trade critic and MP for the southwestern Ontario riding of Essex, on Tuesday tabled a motion in the Commons for Canada to set […] Read more
Federal rules arrive on halal food claims
Reading Time: 2 minutes Any food marketed in Canada as certified halal in its labeling or ads will have to include the name of its halal certifying body, starting next month. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said Wednesday the two-year grace period it launched in 2014 for halal labelling and advertising requirements will end April 4. Past that […] Read more
U.S. COOL rules formally off beef, pork
Reading Time: 2 minutes The U.S. Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has formally patched a long-sore spot in cross-border trade relations by pulling its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) regulations off beef and pork. The AMS, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), published its amendments Wednesday in the U.S. Federal Register. The changes, which took effect upon publication, mean […] Read more
U.S. ag secretary calls for mandatory GMO label
Reading Time: 2 minutes Legislation to avoid a patchwork of state laws on labeling of genetically modified (GMO) foods should make such labels mandatory, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told farmers in New Orleans Friday. Vilsack’s remarks at the Commodity Classic, a U.S. farmers’ trade show and multi-group convention, come as the U.S. Senate agriculture committee sends its proposal […] Read more
Paterson to build new central Alta. elevator
Reading Time: < 1 minute Winnipeg’s Paterson Grain has lined up property off the QE2 Highway in central Alberta for its next inland grain terminal. The company announced Monday it would start construction “immediately” at a site near Bowden, Alta., about 40 km south of Red Deer, to start taking grain in 2017. The facility, when complete, will have storage […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
