YOUTH AG-SUMMIT:'Thought leaders' consider farming's future

Sustainability, leadership and innovation in agriculture guided four days of learning, debating and discussion among young "thought leaders" from 33 countries at this week's Youth Ag-Summit. The event, held in Canberra, Australia from Aug. 24 to 27, and organized by Bayer CropScience and the Australian youth organization Future Farmers Network, was set up to build[...]

Avoid 'green bridge' from winter wheat wrecks to spring wheat

Manitoba agriculture department staffers report questions coming in about seeding spring wheat in a field where the winter wheat was torn up due to poor emergence or winterkill. The main disease consideration in this situation is wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV). This disease is vectored by the wheat curl mite and both the virus and[...]


Watch skies for signs of leaf spot diseases in wheat

Provincial ag extension staff in Alberta are reminding wheat growers they've got plenty of economic reasons to keep a weather eye out for signs of leaf spot disease. Leaf spot diseases can decrease wheat yield by up to 20 per cent or more, as well as diminish kernel weight and in some cases reduce grade.[...]

Scotian Gold apple facility gets $2M loan

The biggest apple packing and storage business in Eastern Canada will get a $2 million provincial loan to retool its packing system. The Nova Scotia government on Thursday announced a loan through its Industrial Expansion Fund to Scotian Gold Co-operative Ltd. at Coldbrook, just west of Kentville in Kings County. The loan will help the[...]


NDP goes green in ag platform

Funding for organic farming, "green" farming, farmer co-ops and farm safety nets are on Jack Layton's to-fund list in the New Democratic Party's new agriculture platform. NDP leader Layton released the party's full platform Sunday in Toronto, with just over two weeks before a federal election. Among other points, the NDP's platform proposes a series[...]

Liberals offer "green shift" offsets for farmers

Sweetening the federal Liberals' proposed "green shift" plan in anticipation of an election call, party leader Stephane Dion proposes to put farmers among the beneficiaries of $900 million in "green" incentives. The Liberals' proposed "green shift" environmental and economic plan will now include a $250 million Green Farms Fund, $400 million in emissions reduction credits[...]


Alta. names more farmers to "green" institute

Alberta's government has named two farmers to the board of its new institute to explore how the province can best tap into demand for environmental goods and services. Jurgen Preugschas of Mayerthorpe and Terry Young of Red Deer will be the two farmer directors for the Institute for Agriculture, Forestry and the Environment. The new[...]

Nufarm to sell Achieve Liquid Gold

Nufarm will take over marketing of Syngenta's Achieve Liquid Gold herbicide in Western Canada, the companies announced Tuesday. Achieve Liquid Gold is a tank mix of Syngenta's graminicide Achieve (Group 1) and Bayer CropScience's Buctril M (Groups 4 and 6). (Nufarm also markets a generic version of Buctril M under the name Mextrol.) The company[...]


Institute to "green" Alberta's ag sector

How Alberta's farming sector can adapt to tap into growing demand for environment-friendly goods, services and processes is expected to be one of the key fields of study for a new provincially-funded institute. Premier Ed Stelmach launched the "virtual" Alberta Institute for Agriculture, Forestry and the Environment on Monday with $800,000 and a budget for[...]

Funds up for Que. farms' "green" work

Quebec will boost its funding for the federal/provincial Prime-Vert program to include programs that help farmers improve water quality and cut excess greenhouse gases (GHGs). The Quebec program, funded through the recently-extended portion of the federal/provincial Agricultural Policy Framework, promotes best-management practices and supports projects that allow farms to comply with environmental regulations, laws and[...]