A new Manitoba lab with federal, provincial and canola industry backing has been opened with the goal of staying a step ahead of canola diseases such as clubroot and verticillium wilt. The federal and Manitoba governments on Thursday announced $969,000 for equipment, including a polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) machine, and $250,000 for research at the
Manitoba canola pest lab backed for equipment, research
Ont. to seek community ownership for ex-Guelph ag campuses
With recommendations in hand, the Ontario government plans to clear a path for the use of two soon-to-be-former University of Guelph ag campuses as new community-backed ag schools. The province on Friday laid out its response to last month’s recommendations from its appointed facilitators, Lyle Vanclief and Marc Godbout, on the future of Guelph’s Kemptville
U.S. defense of COOL goes to WTO in February
The U.S. government will have its day at the World Trade Organization next month, as its defense of its mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) laws for retail meat is now booked for an oral hearing. The WTO’s Appellate Body division has scheduled its hearing of the U.S. government’s appeal for Feb. 16 and 17 at WTO
Cap’n Crunch and chocolate chip cookies don’t score well
Researchers find that Canadian and U.S. labelling systems make little difference
Canadian and U.S. nutrition labelling systems aren’t helpful in helping consumers make wise food choices, say McGill University researchers. In a study published in the December issue of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, the researchers compared four different labelling systems and found that the Nutrition Facts label currently required on most
New conditions placed on P.E.I. potato exports to U.S.
Potato wart’s appearance in another Prince Edward Island potato field in August has led to a new round of rules for the province’s potato exports to the U.S. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Monday announced new requirements effective “immediately” for such exports, citing the detection of potato wart in 23 fields in the
Canada expands blocks on U.S. poultry, eggs
Canada’s avian flu-related ban on imports of poultry, birds and eggs from Washington and Oregon has been expanded to include the same products from California and Idaho. The ban was expanded after outbreaks of avian flu in poultry in the past week in both states, including a backyard flock of chickens in Idaho infected with
Grid planting does a better job at shading out weeds says researchers
Now you just need to figure out how to plant that way
Planting corn and other crops in a grid rather than in rows may control weeds better, say scientists writing in the journal Weed Research. C. Marin of Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Colombia and J. Weiner of the University of Copenhagen report on two years of tests in which maize (corn) was sown in three
Grain handle up as CN books record freight in 2014
Canadian National Railway (CN) reported increased revenue from a higher grain and fertilizer handle as part of its “record full-year freight volumes” for fiscal 2014. The railway on Tuesday released fourth-quarter and 12-month results, booking substantially higher revenues and profit in 2014 over 2013. Montreal-based CN reported $844 million in net income on $3.207 billion
Introducing a new breed of cattle
Our History: January 1886
The January 1886 issue of The Nor’-West Farmer and Manitoba Miller introduced readers to a breed of Dutch cattle known either as Holstein or Friesian. “The cows have large paunches and need plenty of food, and thrive best on grass of rich meadow bottoms and would be well adapted to the larger part of Manitoba.”
Nova Scotia MP named parliamentary ag secretary
A promotion at the federal Tories’ cabinet table has led to the appointment of a new parliamentary secretary on the agriculture file. Gerald Keddy, MP for the Nova Scotia riding of South Shore-St. Margaret’s since 1997, was named Friday to replace Ontario MP Pierre Lemieux as parliamentary secretary for Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. Lemieux, the
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