JBS Foods Canada, which operates the beef processing facility in Brooks, Alta., is providing $2 million to that community, the company announced Oct. 22. The funds are part of the company’s Hometown Strong initiative that has earmarked $50 million for use in communities within Canada and the United States where it has facilities. The money […] Read more

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Canada’s major railways have filed their winter contingency plans as required by law. Since a new law was passed in 2018, Canada’s major rail companies are required to publish winter plans and can be forced to pay up if they fail to deliver on certain promises of rail cars. That law came into effect after […] Read more

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Cereal growers in Alberta and Saskatchewan have a new tool to fight wireworms. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency on Oct. 19, registered a new insecticide from BASF called broflanilide. BASF has been promoting broflanilide for a while, but the registration means it will be available to Canadian farmers in 2021. “Growers have struggled for […] Read more

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Canada’s dairy farmers are calling on the federal government to make good on its promise to compensate producers after giving up market share of the supply-managed industry to more foreign competitors. The Liberal government has told Dairy Farmers of Canada compensation is coming as a result of three major trade deals: the Comprehensive Economic and […] Read more

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Harvest 2020 is almost in the bin, well ahead of three and five-year averages for the prairie provinces. It’s a welcome change from the previous year that saw farmers struggle with the worst harvest conditions in decades. “It was pretty well seamless for a lot of people,” said Lynn Jacobson, president of the Alberta Federation […] Read more

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Grain companies facing skyrocketing rent at the Vancouver port want Ottawa to intervene. Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevators Association, said rent on federal property at the port went up 13 to 30 percent this year. It’s costing grain terminals hundreds of thousands of dollars every quarter and will total millions before […] Read more

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One of Canada’s most widely known farmers died Oct. 13 at the age of 89. Percy Schmeiser of Bruno, Sask., gained fame in the 1990s as the man who fought a prolonged legal battle against Monsanto over the use of one of its flagship products, Roundup Ready canola. Monsanto sued Schmeiser, claiming he had planted […] Read more

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A flurry of funding announcements last week and early this week left no doubt about the direction of agricultural research in Alberta. The provincial government is getting out of the research business, shifting its work and some of its staff to colleges and universities that have agricultural programs. The department’s Field Crop Development Centre operating […] Read more

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Productivity, profitability and competitiveness top the list of priorities for future agricultural research in Alberta. Last week, the Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) entity released its list of four focus areas for research that were determined through consultation with producers, industry, academia and applied research organizations. The other three are: sustainable and responsible agriculture; market […] Read more

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The European Union has become the first governing body in the world to recognize plant biostimulants as a distinct category of agricultural inputs. On July 15, 2019, the EU approved new fertilizer regulations that included a clear definition for biostimulants. “This might not sound like very much but it’s a significant step for the industry,” […] Read more

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