Major Chinese ag lender sets up Vancouver desk

Reading Time: 2 minutes One of the top agricultural lenders in China and top banks in the world has gone to Vancouver to set up its fifth representative office outside its home country. Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank) was feted Monday in a formal welcome ceremony at the Vancouver Convention Centre with the lender’s senior vice-president, Chao Gong, and […] Read more

Don’t spray weevils too soon: Alberta pest report

Reading Time: < 1 minute In his weekly Call of the Land pest report, Alberta Agriculture pest specialist Scott Meers says cabbage seedpod weevils are starting to appear and based on conditions so far, quite a few are expected this year, especially south of No. 1 highway. However Meers recommends not spraying too early. "We really recommend that producers do […] Read more


Trans-Pacific traders ready to add Canada at table

Reading Time: 3 minutes A number of nations chilly to Canada’s supply-managed dairy, egg and poultry systems and ag supports are nevertheless ready to bring Canada into a new set of free trade talks. Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday announced the support of all nine current members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for Canada and Mexico to join […] Read more

Manitoba crop report: good start, heat needed

Reading Time: < 1 minute Manitoba Agriculture has issued its weekly crop report, production update and weather report. Full documents are attached alongside. Highlights •Seeding is essentially complete in Manitoba for the 2012 season. •    Majority of crops are either at or ahead of their normal stages of development for this time of year due to an earlier than normal […] Read more


New use for vitamin C: cut your seed cost

Reading Time: < 1 minute It may or may not cure the common cold, but biochemists at the University of California, Riverside say vitamin C might reduce the cost of your seed by making it  produce twins or triplets. Daniel R. Gallie and Zhong Chen found that increasing the level of dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), a naturally occurring enzyme that recycles […] Read more

Weed scientists sound caution on crops grown for biofuel

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) is warning the biofuel industry to be careful not to introduce new energy crops that turn into invasive weeds. "We don’t yet have sufficient research and risk models to predict the environmental impact of these new crops in the field," Jacob Barney, Ph.D., assistant professor of Invasive Plant […] Read more


Stripe rust “evolving rapidly” in southern Alberta

Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta’s Bugs.R.Us pest and disease update service issued this release on Monday, June 18: Dr. Denis Gaudet at AAFC-Lethbridge reported today that the picture is evolving rapidly for stripe rust in southern Alberta. A field southeast of Burdett was found with 60 per cent incidence and 30 per cent severity. This early detection of a significant […] Read more

Pilot project helps Nova Scotia farmers implement health and safety plans

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) has launched a Nova Scotia FarmSafe pilot project aimed at helping producers implement health and safety plans on their farms. The project, operating until March 31, 2013, involves the employment of a Truro-based Canada FarmSafe Advisor trained by CASA staff to walk farm managers through the process of establishing […] Read more


CROP CHECKUP: Potential for four generations of diamondbacks

Reading Time: < 1 minute In his weekly Call of the Land report Alberta Agriculture pest specialist Scott Meers says that diamondback moths could be a season-long threat, especially in southern Alberta where emergence was so early this year. The first adults of the new generation have been spotted around Lethbridge this week. "This is really early, these generations will […] Read more

Cross-country combine “Prairie Belle” retired

Reading Time: 2 minutes After travelling 4,000 kilometres across Canada, and four years helping harvest crops and raise funds at the Big Quill Canadian Foodgrains Bank Community Growing Project, the Prairie Belle has been retired.  The 1980 Massey Ferguson 860 combine became well known in 2000, when owner Nick Parsons drove it from his farm in Dawson Creek, B.C. […] Read more