Grain companies and Canadian Nat ional Railway (CN) turned thumbs down on the Rail Freight Service Review panel’s interim report, but for different reasons. The grain companies say the report commissioned by Transport Canada released Oct. 8 after two years of consultation is flawed because it fails to recommend the federal government immediately legislate the
Mixed Reaction To Rail Freight Service Review Interim Report
Resilience Key To Survival
Modern industrial agriculture needs less efficiency and more resiliency if it’s going to feed billions more people in a world turned upside down by exploding energy prices and climate change. It sounds counterintuitive, but University of Waterloo Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon warns the current system is too “brittle” to withstand the challenges ahead. “I hate to
Organic Agriculture Is The Future
Does organic agriculture have a future? For some, such as well-known plant scientist E. Ann Clark, organic is the future. In a paper released earlier this year, the University of Guelph professor joined those who say that the end of cheap oil will mean the end of conventional agriculture as it’s currently practised. “(T)he future
U. S. Dairy Producer Survives Ups And Downs Of A Free Market
Kelsay Dairy farm is big by Canadian standards, milking 450 or so cows, but in these parts it’s a model family farm. There’s an old hip roof barn and a couple old-fashioned silver-sided silos, which urbanites can take pictures of each October when the Kelsays open up their farm to city folk from nearby Indianapolis.
Dow Pipeline Includes Two New Weed Killers
Two new Dow AgroSciences herbicides, Tandem and OcTTain, are coming to Western Canada soon. Tandem, a new grass and broadleaf killer, will be available next spring; OcTTain, a broadleaf killer designed for the brown and dark-brown soil zones of the southern Prairies has been submitted to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and is pending
Dow AgroSciences Pumped About Its Pipeline
Dow AgroSciences has taken Albert Einstein’s observation – “in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity” – to heart. Dow AgroSciences is pumped about the products it is developing to meeting growing world food demands from finite resources amidst a changing climate. There are 6.8 billion mouths to feed now; by 2050 there will be 9.3
Science-Based Regulations Needed: Dow AgroSciences
Success for Dow Agro- Sciences depends on innovation, says Jim Wispinski, president and CEO of Dow AgroSciences Canada headquartered in Calgary. According to Wispinski, who is also chair of CropLife Canada, Bill C-474, if passed, will discourage research. The bill proposes that a mandatory “analysis of potential harm to export markets be conducted before the
Ottawa Commits $11 Million To Cereal Breeding Research – for Sep. 23, 2010
The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) will now directly manage publicly funded wheat breeding in Western Canada thanks to the creation of the Canadian Wheat Breeding Cluster, says foundation vice-chair and Dauphinarea farmer Don Dewar. The federal government is contributing more than $8 million to the cluster to go with wheat checkoff money collected by
CGC Short A Commissioner – for Sep. 23, 2010
Ever dreamed of becoming a Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) commissioner? The salary ranges from $135,300 to $159,200. And there’s an opening, although the deadline to apply was July 5. Cam Dahl’s three-year term as a CGC commissioner ended Aug. 15 and he decided not to seek a renewal. “It was a very difficult decision,” Dahl
New Manitoba Shortlines In The Works – for Sep. 23, 2010
Abanner year for Manitoba’s first farmer-owned railway is fuelling interest in two more. Leaders of two proposed locally owned Manitoba shortline railways said they are more optimistic than ever after visiting the Boundary Trails Railway Company (BTRC) operations and producer car loading facilities here last week. Harold Purkess, president of the River Hills Railroad (RHR)