Reading Time: < 1 minute A pair of independent crop input retail outlets in west-central Alberta will be networking with seven others by month-end. Crop Management Network (CMN), a joint venture between an employee-owned network of retail outlets and La Coop federee’s Agrico Canada arm, announced Wednesday it has reached a deal to buy Performance Ag Group. Performance Ag, which […] Read more
Alberta input retail chain expands westward reach
Sunny days seen ahead for sunflower crops
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Though sunflowers were at the mercy of Western Canada’s unseasonable weather in 2018, the 2019 growing season may be more predictable. In November 2018, some Manitoba sunflower crops were late to come off the field. A cold and rainy fall delayed the Prairie harvest, lowered average yields and impacted the overall size of […] Read more
One Alberta PED case deemed ‘false positive’
Reading Time: 2 minutes The third of four reported on-farm outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea in Alberta so far this year can now be marked as a negative. The provincial government and hog producer agency Alberta Pork on Monday announced the first of two cases reported Friday was in fact a “false positive.” Specifically, Alberta Pork said Monday, the […] Read more
Alberta confirms third and fourth PED cases
Reading Time: 2 minutes Update, March 4, 2019: The third PED case to which this article refers was announced Monday to be a “false positive.” Click here for details. Alberta, which until January was one of the remaining hog-producing provinces clear of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), is now up to four cases in three months. The provincial agriculture department […] Read more
PED not yet done with Alberta
Reading Time: 2 minutes Just when it appeared Alberta’s on-farm outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) may have been a one-off, the province has confirmed a second case. Officials with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry on Friday announced they’ve confirmed and are investigating a new PED outbreak at a 600-head farrow-to-finish hog operation at an unspecified location. “At this time, […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Markets steady amid cold Alberta weather
Reading Time: < 1 minute Excessively cold temperatures in Alberta may be causing headaches for both feed grain buyers and sellers, but prices remain relatively steady for what’s moving. The cold weather hasn’t really led to a significant increase in demand, but “it’s definitely made the farmer grumpy,” said Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities in Lacombe, Alta. “In general, the […] Read more
Pigs could soon move off Alberta’s PED-infected farm
Reading Time: 2 minutes The first, and so far only, Alberta hog farm to catch porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) could see animal shipments restart on a supervised basis “in the coming week.” The provincial ag ministry on Thursday said its investigation of the PED case, discovered Jan. 3 at a 400-head farrow-to finish operation, “continues to suggest that the […] Read more
Livestock tax deferral map expands again for 2018
Reading Time: 2 minutes Some northern and southwestern Ontario producers who had to sell breeding livestock due to drought in the 2018 tax year can now defer chunks of the income from those sales when filing their income taxes. The federal government on Wednesday rolled out its final list and map of designated regions for 2018 under its livestock […] Read more
Alberta’s PED outbreak so far held to one spot
Reading Time: 3 minutes The probe into Alberta’s first-ever outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea hasn’t yet shown any paths by which the PED virus might have got to the farm — nor any new cases anywhere else in the province. The provincial government on Jan. 7 confirmed the first case of PED to appear in hogs in Alberta, at […] Read more
Oil on rail likely won’t interfere with grain movements
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — When considering the pattern of how grain is shipped by rail in Canada, it’s very unlikely increased oil shipments would interfere, according to Quorum Corp. “That’s largely because the flow of grain is predominantly to the West Coast and Thunder Bay,” said Quorum president Mark Hemmes. About 80 per cent of Canadian […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
