Railway revenues rekindle costing review calls

Canada’s two major railways once again tipped over the statutory cap revenues for shipping grain during the 2011-12 crop year — costing farmers an extra two cents per tonne. “It underscores again the need for a costing review to parallel the (rail) service review,” Bladworth Sask., farmer and agricultural economist Ian McCreary said in an

Australia reports deadly bird flu case

paris / reuters Australia has reported its first case of a highly pathogenic bird flu virus in 15 years. So far 5,000 poultry have died at an infected egg farm in Maitland, 160 kilometres north of Sydney, but 50,000 birds are at risk. The virus is different from the deadly H5N1 strain, found in 1997


Container regulation change angers food processors

A coalition of food processors and farm groups is protesting a federal plan to no longer require standard-size packages. New rules mean American food producers will no longer have to use Canadian-size packages and that will give some of them an advantage in the grocery store aisle, said Chris Kyte, president of the Food Processors

Grains Act amendments get good grade but could be higher

Proposed changes to the Canadian Grain Commission grade well with national farm groups, but they say the results could be even better. The commission’s operating costs “must be driven down through a more comprehensive streamlining of operations than the current amendments facilitate,” said Gordon Bacon, CEO of Pulse Canada and spokesman for the Canadian Special


Conservatives block additional scrutiny of food safety bill

Food safety legislation and sweeping changes to the Canadian Grain Commission are being rushed through Parliament with scant opportunity for MPs to consider their implications. Conservative MPs used their majority on the Commons agriculture committee last week to reject a Liberal call to extend hearings on the Safe Food for Canadians Act and have Agriculture

Dedicated farm advocate Bob Douglas passes

Bob Douglas, one of Manitoba’s pre-eminent farm champions, died Oct. 6 at the age of 80. “I think Bob is one of those unsung heroes that farmers just heard his name but didn’t know what he committed to them,” Earl Geddes, a former Keystone Agricultural Producers’ president, said in an interview Monday. “I’ve got nothing


Farm groups set objectives for fall session of Parliament

With the Canadian Wheat Board battle in the rear-view mirror, this fall’s parliamentary session won’t be as controversial. But long-promised legislation to set standards for railway service levels, drought aid for Ontario and Quebec farmers, and the new Growing Forward deal — expected to make farmers more responsible for their financial well-being — should generate

Change in command at Ag Canada

Agriculture Canada will be getting a new deputy minister in September when 28-year veteran Suzanne Vinet takes over from John Knubley. Vinet, currently president of the Economic Development Agency of Canada, started at Ag Canada in 1984 and worked her way up to assistant deputy minister for trade policy before leaving in 2007 for senior


Proposed changes to the federal/provincial farm income stabilization program beyond this year are expected to lead to tighter eligibility for a program payout, according to a producer group observing the planning process. In its Grass Routes newsletter, Alberta Beef Producers reported some suggestion among federal and provincial agriculture ministers that governments should “rebalance their books

Food strategy missing from ag committee report

The Commons agriculture committee is backing calls for a national food strategy, but says there’s not time to develop one before the launch of the Growing Forward Two program next April. “It’s really a different issue from Growing Forward, which is a slate of programs to help farmers,” said Tory MP Larry Miller, the committee’s