Austria’s Parliament Building, in Vienna. (CIA.gov)

Austria’s chancellor sees CETA on right track

Vienna | Reuters –– Austria’s government on Monday seemed to have found common ground on a free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada with Chancellor Christian Kern, who has criticized the pact in the past, saying negotiations were on the right track. Social Democrat Kern’s opposition to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

Cathy Glover. (Photo courtesy Country Life in B.C.)

B.C. farm journal under new ownership

The monthly paper billed as Canada’s oldest independently-owned farm journal has yielded a new owner from its own front office. Cathy Glover, the assistant editor and sales manager for Country Life in B.C., was announced Wednesday as the journal’s new owner, taking over from retiring editor/publisher Peter Wilding. British Columbia’s commercial farmers and ranchers “have


(Mahindra.com)

Ottawa to back new tractor plant in Quebec

A federal fund to help communities diversify from the asbestos business will help finance a major tractor manufacturer’s first facilities in Canada. Navdeep Bains, the minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED), on Tuesday announced a “repayable contribution” of $350,000 for Mahindra Canada-Est to put up a 22,000-square foot industrial building at Adstock,

(Dave Bedard photo)

Manitoba government overhauls MASC board

CORRECTED, Sept. 28: Manitoba’s Tory government has replaced nearly the entire board table at its Crown crop insurance and farm financing agency. Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler on Monday named Darlingford, Man. grain grower and accountant Jim Wilson and former federal agriculture minister Charlie Mayer as the new chair and vice-chair respectively for Manitoba Agricultural Services



(EC.europa.eu)

EU bids to seal CETA as U.S. deal prospects fade

Bratislava | Reuters –– European Union ministers took steps Friday to approve a contentious free trade deal with Canada, while France and Austria demanded that talks towards a similar agreement with the United States should stop. Both deals have triggered demonstrations by unions and protest groups who say they will spark a “race to the





Pacific Ocean surface temperature anomalies, in degrees Celsius, for the seven-day period centred on Aug. 31, 2016. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

U.S. agency reduces outlook for La Nina in 2016-17

New York | Reuters — A U.S. government weather forecaster reduced its outlook on Thursday for La Nina conditions to develop during the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter of 2016-17, saying neutral conditions were more likely. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC), an agency of the National Weather Service, said in a monthly forecast there was

(Dave Bedard photo)

Farmers’ debt seen hitting fresh record high

Reuters — Canadian farmers’ debt will likely reach another record high this year, while land appreciation slows and incomes flatten, but the industry is still in strong financial shape, the country’s biggest agriculture lender, Farm Credit Canada, forecast on Tuesday. FCC, the federal Crown ag lending agency, sounded a note of caution for farmers, who