Shell, Iogen scrap plans for Canada biofuel plant

Reuters / Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Iogen Corp. have scrapped plans for a commercial-scale biofuel plant in Manitoba, spelling the loss of 150 jobs and raising questions about widespread and near-term use of fuel made from agricultural waste in Canada. The Iogen Energy joint venture had been studying building a plant to make ethanol


CSA pioneers say market gardening works for them

Most of the local food grown 
by Theresa and Geoff Dyck is 
consumed in Winnipeg 
but they would love to 
sell to the cottage crowd

Geoff and Theresa Dyck drop tiny pepper plants into pressed earth squares with the ease of people who have done it before — many, many times before. “We always remind ourselves when we are tired or cranky and there are mosquitos… that we are not punching a clock,” says Theresa. “We are making our own

Union charges Ritz kept in the dark about impact of CFIA cuts

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is misinformed and passing on incorrect information to consumers about the impact of cuts to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, according to the head of the union that represents some CFIA employees. Bob Kingston said he believes Ritz is sincere when he says the 10 per cent cut to CFIA’s funding


Global food prices on the rise again

reuters / Global food prices are rising again, pushed higher by costlier oil, strong demand from Asia and bad weather in parts of Europe, South America and the United States, the World Bank said April 25. The latest World Bank food price index showed the cost of food rose eight per cent between December and

Here’s your chance

It’s a common rant in the coffee shops and at the microphone of farm meetings. It’s been the subject of conferences and multi-stakeholder think-tanks. People outside of agriculture just don’t understand what it means to be a farmer. Farm Credit Canada recently consulted with its Farm Vision Panel on the matter and came up with


New campaign urges Manitobans to buy local food

Increasing awareness of food products produced and processed in Manitoba and making them easily identifiable to consumers on store shelves and on restaurant menus are objectives of new Buy Manitoba campaign

A new campaign launched in Manitoba this week will urge food shoppers to “taste, smile, repeat,” by discovering Manitoba-grown, -raised and -processed foods and buying them more often. Buy Manitoba is a multi-year awareness and promotion which was to be unveiled at a Canada Safeway in Winnipeg April 26. It will help consumers easily identify

Beef producers must engage the public on animal welfare

Animal welfare. These two words often evoke a strong response from livestock producers across the country who feel that their way of life is under siege by those who don’t understand them and don’t grasp what they do for society. One just has to look at a few headlines to understand why farmers may feel


The challenge of raising informed consumers

One hundred years ago when Canadians often butchered their own meat and pulled vegetables from their own gardens, they did not need to contemplate the source of their food. They could see it with their own eyes. Today, our access to food is so easy that we need not contemplate the source either. There are

China farmers switch to corn from soy

Chinese farmers are set to expand corn acreage more than two per cent this year to reach its largest spread ever, despite a growth rate flat with last year, as record domestic prices and grain subsidies by Beijing cut into soy acreages. The lower soy acreage will ensure imports by China, the world’s top buyer