Reading Time: < 1 minute The public comment period on Ontario’s planned regulations for neonicotinoid seed treatments will close Thursday as scheduled, despite requests from the province’s grain grower group for an extension. The province has “refused” to extend the public comment period on the use of the insecticide group in seed treatments, Grain Farmers of Ontario said in a […] Read more
Ontario won’t widen comment window on neonics: GFO
H5N8-positive wild duck found in B.C.
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ongoing surveillance of Canada’s wild birds has turned up the country’s first-ever case of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian flu, in a duck carcass at a British Columbia bird sanctuary. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Friday reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), noting such a detection in wild birds “should […] Read more
U.S. soy shippers say rail service improved
Reading Time: < 1 minute The U.S. Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) says it’s pleased with recent improvements to rail service, and is giving especially high marks to Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). Last week, the STC and the University of Minnesota concluded the research project “2014 Harvest: Attaching a Garden Hose to a Fire Hydrant,” which was started due to U.S. […] Read more
Maple Leaf results improve as Toronto plant shuts
Reading Time: 2 minutes Maple Leaf Foods booked improved sales and margins for its first fiscal quarter as the last of its further-processing plants slated for closure in 2011 completed its last production run. The Toronto meat processing firm on Thursday reported a net loss of $2.86 million on sales of $720.25 million for its quarter ending March 31, […] Read more
No time like now to scout for resistance: CCC
Reading Time: 2 minutes Grain and oilseed growers making weekend plans are advised that herbicide-resistant weeds have way fewer places to hide right now. Any weeds that lived through pre-seeding burnoff or post-emergent spraying — where other weeds have clearly died — are best caught early, the Canola Council of Canada said in a release Friday. “It takes 14-21 […] Read more
Canadian beef again moving to China
Reading Time: < 1 minute Federal inspectors are again issuing certificates for exports of Canadian beef to China, as Beijing’s temporary ban on the Canadian product comes to an end. The Chinese government in late February announced a temporary ban on imports of Canadian beef, shortly after Canada confirmed its first case of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in a domestic […] Read more
Farm business tax credits on tap in Manitoba budget
Reading Time: 2 minutes Expansions and extensions for tax credits of use to Manitoba farmers and small agribusinesses were laid out Thursday in the province’s latest budget. Finance Minister Greg Dewar’s plan calls for an expansion of the province’s small business venture capital tax credit, broadening its list of eligible businesses to include “non-traditional farming” ventures, as well as […] Read more
Fire damages Bunge’s Hamilton crush plant
Reading Time: < 1 minute Fire officials in Hamilton, Ont. estimate a fire in a soybean drying unit at Bunge’s oilseed crush plant has caused about $20,000 in damages. The city’s fire department on Thursday said multiple fire crews responded to a report of a fire at the Bunge plant at about 12:40 p.m. The fire, officials said, broke out […] Read more
Cost index trimmed for railways’ grain revenue cap
Reading Time: 2 minutes A sharper-than-expected drop in fuel costs has led federal regulators to dial back the index that decides how much money railways get to keep from hauling Prairie grain. The Canadian Transportation Agency on announced Thursday it will cut its volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) by 5.6 per cent, to 1.2517, for the 2015-16 crop year. […] Read more
Ont. co-op swaps corn supply line for ethanol plant
Reading Time: 2 minutes Corrected, April 30, 2015 — Farmer co-operative IGPC plans to switch to Thompsons from Cargill as the main corn supplier for its southwestern Ontario ethanol processing plant, starting this fall. Thompsons Ltd. will start buying corn immediately for deliveries from Oct. 1 onward to the Aylmer, Ont. ethanol plant, IGPC (Integrated Grain Processors Co-operative) said in a […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
