Reading Time: 4 minutes Winnipeg/Oslo | Reuters — Two of the world’s biggest fertilizer producers, CF Industries and Yara International, are seeking to cash in on the green energy transition by reconfiguring ammonia plants in the U.S. and Norway to produce clean energy to power ships. The consumption of oil for transportation is one of the top contributors to […] Read more
Facing green push on farm, fertilizer makers look to sea for growth
Alberta’s Lakeland to offer ag tech degree
College to launch first-in-Canada program in September
Reading Time: 2 minutes East-central Alberta’s Lakeland College is set to offer what’s billed as Canada’s first degree program in agriculture technology, as a two-year post-credential program, starting in September. The program, announced Wednesday, will consist of full-time studies at Lakeland’s campus at Vermilion, about 180 km east of Edmonton, plus “experiential learning practicums” off campus, en route to […] Read more
Trump administration mulls industry-wide biofuel waiver
Comment period would end after Trump's exit
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — The Trump administration is considering requests from the oil refining industry and its backers for a sweeping nationwide waiver to exempt them from their obligations to blend biofuels, a measure they argue would help them weather the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency […] Read more
Railways overshoot grain revenue limits for 2019-20
Grain revenues run $5.3 million over caps, CTA rules
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s big two railways have about two more weeks to hand over about $5.6 million in Prairie grain revenue overages and related penalties for the 2019-20 crop year. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) on Dec. 22 ruled Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) each overshot their maximum revenue entitlements (MREs) for the […] Read more
Court approves Morris Industries’ sale to Rite Way
Yorkton plant, not included in deal, to close
Reading Time: 3 minutes Seeding equipment manufacturer Morris Industries has been approved for sale to another Saskatchewan manufacturer — minus its Yorkton manufacturing plant, which is not part of the sale and is now expected to close by year’s end. Judge Shawn Smith of Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatoon on Friday approved the sale of Morris to a […] Read more
Bibeau promises help to farmers on rising carbon tax
Funds expected to help farmers cut emissions
Reading Time: 2 minutes A steadily rising carbon tax has a lot of Western Canada’s grain farmers wondering how they’ll compete in world markets against competitors not subjected to a similar tax. “I think the world market is also looking towards a greener economy and always more sustainable agriculture,” federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said when the question was […] Read more
Career in ag machinery true to form
Assessing the legacy Martin Richenhagen leaves behind at AGCO
Reading Time: 7 minutes [UPDATED: Dec. 18, 2020] Having spent many years covering ag machinery, I recall all the times I found myself having a drink with other machinery writers at the end of a busy day, only to notice how often we’d all be agog at something we’d heard AGCO CEO Martin Richenhagen say. To be clear, we […] Read more
New greening programs planned for ag alongside carbon tax hike
Carbon price to hit $170 per tonne by 2030
Reading Time: 5 minutes A new federal climate plan which further cranks up taxes on carbon emissions also includes pledges of new programs to help sink more carbon into farmland. The government on Friday released the sequel to its 2016 Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change — a “strengthened” climate plan, titled A Healthy Environment and a […] Read more
Alberta offers equivalency plan, grants for aspiring truckers
Province to cut Class 1 qualifying time for Class 3 drivers
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Alberta government plans to reduce the entry fees — and the time required — for some drivers wanting to level up to become Class 1 truckers. Provincial Transportation Minister Ric McIver on Nov. 26 announced a new “Experience and Equivalency” program that’s expected to reduce the time required for Class 3 drivers to upgrade […] Read more
U.S. pork packer Smithfield offers ultra-cold vaccine storage
COVID-19 vaccines need storage at -20 C, -70 C
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, said on Thursday it had offered to help U.S. health officials distribute COVID-19 vaccines and store them in ultra-cold freezers that are in high demand to support a public vaccination campaign. U.S. states, cities and hospitals are scrambling to buy freezers that can safely […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
