Party Agriculture Platforms For May 2 Election

CONSERVATIVE PARTY: A Conservative government would invest $100 million over five years into the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, extend accelerated writeoffs for new food-processing equipment and create a $50-million agriculture innovation fund. It would increase support for the Agriculture and Food Trade Commissioner Service and the Market Access Secretariat to find new markets for Canadian

Bayer And DuPont Sign Cross-Licence Deal

Seed giant Pioneer Hi-Bred will begin using LibertyLink herbicide-tolerance traits in its canola hybrids, in a deal which will see Bayer CropScience try its hand at juncea oilseeds. Germany’s Bayer and DuPontowned, U.S.-based Pioneer have announced a global licensing agreement in which Bayer will license its LibertyLink technology to Pioneer, while Bayer will get access


Producers Must Lead Changes In Animal Welfare

Taking good care of animals is a top priority for most livestock producers, one they grew up with and practise daily. But somewhere along the line that message has gotten lost, says Dr. Allan Preston. Today it is consumers, animal activists and the corporate world who have taken over the driver’s seat. “That shouldn’t happen,”

Start Fresh This Spring, Says Vegetable Expert

After last year’s late blight apocalypse, many home gardeners have spent a dreary winter opening tin cans instead of jars of their own delicious preserved tomatoes. Added to that disheartening experience, was the sinking feeling one gets when reaching into the potato bin and pulling out the odd stinky, mushy tuber. There are no guarantees


CBOT Corn Tops Wheat For First Time In 15 Years

For the first time in 15 years, wheat prices fell below those for corn on April 12, opening the door wider for wheat to become fodder for livestock and poultry. Soft red winter wheat futures briefly traded below prices for corn at the Chicago Board of Trade, the pinnacle of corn’s climb to record highs

In Brief… – for Apr. 21, 2011

Food safety chair:Is our food safe to eat? A new Chair in Food Safety the first of its kind in Canada puts McGill University at the head of the table in seeking answers to that question. The chair will undertake collaborative research, offer undergraduate and graduate teaching programs, and provide the independent, third-party expertise on


Lots Of Heat, Not Much Light

There was a little heat but not much light from the five candidates who squared off in the two-hour debate on agricultural issues hosted by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture April 11. Despite his recent remarks in Minnedosa about letting farmers decide the future of the Canadian Wheat Board, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz reiterated the

My Budget Plan: Annex Canada

Sure, Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, has a 10-year plan to take this country back from the poor, the uninsured, the elderly, the hungry and all the unemployed who threaten to make America a warmer Iceland. But, I ask, does Mr. Ryan’s plan go far enough in reining in this


Canola Survey Asks The Right Question

We’re all rational people here, right? I would hope that if one of us has a new idea, we should be able to bring it forward and debate it, discuss its merits, and reach some kind of a logical conclusion. It all sounds simple enough. So why is it that the minute there is any

KAP Opposes Roundup Ready Alfalfa’s Release In Canada

The Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) has added its voice to groups opposed to the release of Roundup Ready alfalfa. “It’s a superweed,” Paul Gregory, a Fisher Branch farmer and alfalfa seed exporter said during debate on his resolution for KAP to support the Manitoba Forage Seed Association’s efforts to block Roundup Ready alfalfa’s release. “Once