Already sharing an office and support staff, the Alberta Wheat Commission and Alberta Barley are taking the next step by sharing a manager. The two grower commissions announced Wednesday that the AWC’s general manager Tom Steve will now serve also as Alberta Barley’s general manager, replacing Rob Davies. With Steve on board, the two commissions’

Alberta wheat, barley groups test merged management

‘Get ahead’ with Pool hybrid pigs
Our History: September 1969
Pool hybrid pigs advertised in our Sept. 25, 1969 issue were said to yield well and bring good returns, with one customer reporting a sale of 100 animals with an average return of $60.22 and a total of $126 in premiums. Our main front-page story was on a Food and Agricultural Organization report which suggested

FMC deal for DuPont assets wins clearances
The chemical company set to take up a significant chunk of DuPont’s crop protection work in Canada has picked up the last of the regulatory clearances it needs to close the deal. Philadelphia-based FMC Corp. announced Thursday it received the final approval needed, from the Competition Commission of India, to close the deal the company

Deal off for Imvescor’s veggie meals business
The Montreal parent firm for the Pizza Delight, Baton Rouge, Toujours Mikes and Scores restaurant chains will be hanging onto its prepared meals business for now. Imvescor Restaurant Group announced Friday it has terminated a deal it announced back in March to sell its Groupe Commensal subsidiary to an arm of processor Pasta Romana Foods

Independent ag retailers team up for group buying
Over a dozen “indie” farm input retailers on the Prairies plan to centralize their purchasing using a model developed by Australians in the same line of work. The group of 14 independent Prairie ag input dealers on Sept. 15 announced a new organization, AgLink Canada, a buying group formed “in response to the growing global

Rapid detection of meat fraud
Spanish researchers say a new biosensor can give test results within an hour
In recent years meat fraud has been a growing problem. Unscrupulous sellers have been caught adulturating beef with cheaper horsemeat and swapping chicken for turkey in sausages labelled 100 per cent turkey. Now researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid say they’ve developed an electrochemical biosensor that can quickly detect a DNA fragment unique to

Prairie canola, soy now in Cargill ProPricing portfolio
Canola and soybean growers in Western Canada are now able to get in on Cargill’s ProPricing grain marketing program for the 2017-18 season. The U.S. agrifood company’s Winnipeg-based Canadian arm announced Sept. 14 it would offer its first-ever canola contract in its ProPricing portfolio, allowing eligible growers to hand off a portion of their canola

Post-secondary cannabis credentials on offer
Degree and diploma aggies interested in producing commercial cannabis and/or hemp will be able to get college-certified starting next year. Niagara College announced Tuesday it will launch a graduate certificate program in commercial cannabis production in 2018, a program it bills as Canada’s “first post-secondary credential” in the crop’s production. Niagara picked up approval this

Manitoba NDP names new ag critic
Manitoba’s former education minister has been pressed into service as the new agriculture critic for the provincial legislature’s official opposition. Wab Kinew, who was elected Saturday as the leader of the opposition New Democrats, on Thursday named James Allum, the MLA for the Winnipeg riding of Fort Garry-Riverview, as the critic for agriculture. Allum will

PHOTOS: Open farm day garners crowds
The annual event is a chance to showcase the industry every fall
More than 40 farms and agriculture-related organizations threw their doors open Sept. 17 to show the general public just what happens down on the farm. Among the volunteer hosts were John and Ann Hunter, who farm near Rapid City. They had well over 200 visitors to their farm in just a few hours. One of