Monsanto and Novozymes are partnering to develop and commercialize biological products to boost worldwide crop production, company officials announced during a telephone news conference Dec. 10. Their new “BioAg Alliance” brings Novozymes’ commercial BioAg operations, including microbial discovery, development and production together with Monsanto’s microbial discovery, advanced biology, field testing and commercial capabilities, the companies said.
Monsanto, Novozymes creating BioAg Alliance
Prairie winter wheat acreage stable for 2013
Western Canadian winter wheat plantings this year are unchanged from 2012 at 1.15 million acres, but there was a shift in where they were planted, says Jake Davidson, executive director of Winter Cereals Canada. According to Statistics Canada Manitoba farmers planted around 435,000 acres of winter wheat this fall, down from 600,000 acres last year,
Terry Boehm steps down after four raucous years heading NFU
Terry Boehm says his four years as National Farmers Union (NFU) president were “tumultuous.” The grain farmer from Colonsay, Sask. stepped down at the NFU’s 44th annual meeting in Ottawa last month. Jan Slomp, a Rimbey, Alta., dairy farmer, was acclaimed the NFU’s new president. Boehm said one of the biggest blows came when the
Grain movement: better, but is it good?
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says the railways are doing an “adequate” job moving a record western Canadian crop, and the chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) last week issued a press release backing him up. But historical data, including from the CGC, show the railways aren’t moving much more grain than a year
Farmers learn how to better defend pesticides, GM use
KAP president Doug Chorney says the ‘Confident Conversations’ workshop gives producers the tools to counter misinformation
Whether it’s A&W’s no-added-hormones burger or banning lawn herbicides, it seems the public is increasingly suspicious of chemicals in their food. To help train farmers to counter those fears CropLife Canada, which represents pesticide and genetically modified crop makers and the Grain Growers of Canada, held a workshop in Calgary Dec. 1. Keystone Agricultural Producers’UPOV ’91 en route through feds’ ‘Agricultural Growth Act’
Canada has started the process of implementing UPOV ’91 — a stronger form of plant breeders’ rights that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says will encourage more private sector plant breeding and is also expected to see farmers pay breeders more in royalties. The changes are part of Bill C-18, the Agricultural Growth Act, introduced Monday
Bayer says ‘plant health compound’ combats stress
It sounds almost to good to be true — spring wheat yields averaging 6.5 per cent higher when treated with what Bayer CropScience calls a “plant health compound.” Bayer has yet to disclose the exact nature of the experimental product, but says it boosts yields by reducing plant stress. The results are based on 19
CWB facility purchase raises concerns
CWB Ltd. is buying handling facilities, but some farmers are wondering who’s paying the bill. CWB announced last week that it would purchase Mission Terminal, Les Élévateurs des Trois-Rivières and Services Maritimes Laviolette for an undisclosed amount. Some have concerns that the former Canadian Wheat Board’s contingency fund, which farmers claim as theirs, will bankroll
Manitoba farmers get one-time amnesty on Faller wheat
They can deliver to ADM in the U.S. for a premium
Manitoba farmers who grew Faller from “brown-bagged” seed have a one-time amnesty allowing them to deliver the unregistered American red spring wheat to three ADM-Benson Quinn-affiliated facilities stateside until July 31, 2014. “This is becoming a bit of a management nightmare for producers so they’ve got an option to clean up,” Lorne Hadley, executive director
Churchill gets another booster
The Port of Churchill is getting a boost from the Manitoba government. Legislation to create Churchill Arctic Port Canada Inc., a non-government agency, to develop economic opportunities, spur job creation and ensure the viability of Churchill, was introduced in the Manitoba legislature Nov. 21. OmniTRAX Canada, which owns the port and the railway that serves