General

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia governments have each co-signed their agreements with the federal government on the specifics of their funding through the new Growing Forward ag policy framework. Growing Forward is Ottawa and the provinces’ replacement for the previous five-year federal/provincial Agricultural Policy Framework (APF, 2003-08). The new $1.3 billion agreement is intended to […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Veterinarians, agrologists, custom pesticide and manure applicators and animal health technologists, among others, may now more easily take their qualifications from province to province as part of a new interprovincial trade deal. Chapter 7 of the provinces’ Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), dealing with labour mobility between provinces, took effect April 1. Under the chapter, […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Manitoba and federal governments have co-signed their agreement on the specifics of funding for Manitoba farmers available through the new Growing Foward ag policy framework. Growing Forward is the national framework to co-ordinate federal and provincial agriculture policy, replacing the five-year Agriculture Policy Framework (2003-08) developed under the Chretien government. Of the $1.3 billion […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes New legislation now in effect in Manitoba to regulate the recruitment of foreign workers is “long overdue” and should be introduced in all provinces, according to one major agri-food union. Manitoba’s Worker Recruitment and Protection Act, which took effect Wednesday, prohibiting recruitment agencies from charging fees to imported workers and requires such recruitment agencies to […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Ontario and British Columbia governments have each co-signed their agreements with the federal government on the specifics of their funding through the new Growing Forward ag policy framework. In Ontario, the joint federal and provincial funding will be for up to $300 million over five years, while B.C.’s share, also for five years ending […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Members of a North American trade group for organic agri-food were told last week that a cross-border “organic equivalency” agreement could be reached by the time Canada’s new organic regulation takes effect this summer. An equivalency agreement would allow for the smooth flow of certified organic goods between the two countries, supporting the continued growth […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s newest Nuffield Scholar plans to study how post-secondary agriculture prorgams around the world are recruiting students to stem what she says are declining numbers. Karen Daynard, who operates ag communications firm KD Communications at Guelph, was named recently as the 2009 Nuffield Scholar by the Canadian Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust. Daynard is an Animal […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute NEW FEATURE — We welcome your comments on any Daily News articles you see here. Every Friday, when applicable, we’ll post the best reader comments of the week. If you’d like to submit comment on any news item you see on this site, click on “Comment on this article” at right. If you’d like your […] Read more

Reading Time: 4 minutes If Canada wants an globally competitive ag industry, it’s not going to get it through public policy focused on farm income support rather than business support, a new report warns. University of Manitoba economics professor Greg Mason, writing for the Calgary-based Canada West Foundation, said in his report released Tuesday that policy “must shift from […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government’s $100 million-per-year program to help farmers cope with high costs of production (COP) seems to have been cancelled without paying out to farmers at all, Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter says. “The Conservative government promised a program, created it, and for no apparent reason that makes sense, cancelled it,” Easter said in […] Read more