Reading Time: 2 minutes Editor’s Note: Many, many thanks to everyone who entered, but as much as we wish we had free tickets for everyone, the contest is now closed. Our 50 winners can expect to be notified later today by email, and if all goes well, I’ll have the tickets in the mail by the end of the day. If you’re […] Read more
CONTEST CLOSED: Farm Progress Show tickets
Alberta NDP taps ex-AAFC staffer as ag minister
Reading Time: 2 minutes A former technician with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has been named as the Alberta New Democrats’ first minister of agriculture, forestry and rural development. Premier Rachel Notley on Sunday named Whitecourt-Ste. Anne MLA Oneil Carlier to the now-expanded portfolio, which takes over responsibility for forestry from the department of environment and sustainable resource development. Including Notley […] Read more
Arrest made in alleged Alberta hay fraud
Reading Time: < 1 minute A Lethbridge businessman is due in court next month to answer to charges that a Taber, Alta.-area farm business was defrauded out of six figures’ worth of hay. The Taber Police Service said Friday it had completed a “lengthy investigation” into allegations of fraud in which hay was obtained “under false pretenses” from a local […] Read more
SW Ont. poultry sectors nearer business-as-usual, almost
Reading Time: 2 minutes Quarantines on several poultry operations in southwestern Ontario could be removed by the end of next month, assuming no new cases of avian flu turn up in the region — just in time for another notifiable poultry disease to appear. The Feather Board Command Centre — the emergency response unit for the province’s chicken, turkey […] Read more
Potato ‘fields’ clarified for cross-border trade
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian and U.S. food inspectors have agreed on what they mean by a “field” in any restrictions they place on potato trade on account of potato cyst nematodes. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Tuesday announced new revisions to their Guidelines on Surveillance and Phytosanitary […] Read more
Sask. opens farmland ownership review
Reading Time: 2 minutes Saskatchewan has kicked off public consultations for a review of its rules on investment in the province’s farmland. The consultation period, which runs until Aug. 10, is meant to help the province “understand who should, or should not be, allowed to own farmland in Saskatchewan,” Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart said in a release Wednesday. At […] Read more
P.E.I. farms and fisheries ministries merge
Reading Time: 2 minutes A reorganization of Prince Edward Island’s government departments will see agriculture split from forestry and instead paired with fisheries. Having returned to office in the May 4 election, Premier Wade MacLauchlan on Wednesday announced his new cabinet, appointing former education and transportation minister Alan McIsaac as minister of agriculture and fisheries. As the agriculture and […] Read more
Manitoba raises caps on cattle loan guarantee plan
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cattle producers and livestock associations in Manitoba will now be able to get provincial guarantees on larger loans to invest in feeder and breeder cattle. The province on Wednesday announced increased borrowing limits under its Manitoba Livestock Associations Loan Guarantee (MLALG), a program meant to allow producer members of livestock associations to get more favourable […] Read more
Ottawa’s new GHG goal eyes fertilizer, chem sectors
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government’s new target, to cut the country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels in the next 15 years, will involve new regulations on fertilizer and chemical companies’ output. Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced the government’s new target and general plans on Friday in Winnipeg, but hasn’t yet specified […] Read more
Study finds Manitoba ready for soy crushing
Reading Time: 3 minutes The rise of soybeans as a cash crop in and around Manitoba, and the availability of hogs to dine on soy meal, could support Western Canada’s first-ever soybean crushing plant, a new study finds. The feasibility study, run by Winnipeg-based Mercantile Venture Consulting and backed by the federal and Manitoba governments, shows a Manitoba crushing […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
