Ottawa announced details of CETA assistance

Transition programs will assist farmers adapt to an expected influx of European cheese

With the European free trade deal CETA set to launch next month, Ottawa is smoothing out a few wrinkles. The federal government has backed down a bit in a dispute with the European Union over the allocation of new tariff-free cheese imports. It also said it would start accepting applications Aug. 22 from dairy farmers

a cargo ship being loaded

CETA deal reaches key milepost

The Canada-EU agreement could 
soon be ratified

After almost 17 months, Canada and the European Union have finally agreed on a legal text for a proposed free trade deal, raising hopes it will be ratified by the end of this year and in effect in 2017. The conclusion of the legal text was announced by Chrystia Freeland, minister of international trade and


Researcher decries loss of PFRA

Researcher decries loss of PFRA

The rural west needs another PFRA to help farmers adapt to climate change

The elimination of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Agency by the Harper government has stripped western farmers of their best tool for coping with droughts and other climate change challenges, says Dave Sauchyn, a researcher at the University of Regina. The folding of the PFRA into Agriculture Canada’s bureaucracy removed the extension workers from the field

Federal government reviews TPP compensation to dairy sector

Federal government reviews TPP compensation to dairy sector

Will the new government follow through on Conservative promises to toughen border controls on milk substitutes and ban imports of milk from cows treated with the rBST?

Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland’s statement that the federal government is reviewing the $4.3-billion dairy compensation package announced by the former government as part of its Pacific trade deal doesn’t alarm Dairy Farmers of Canada. A review “makes sense if the government is going to consult Canadians about the impact” of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Yves Ruel,

Editorial: Unmuzzling the civil service

Editorial: Unmuzzling the civil service

The mainstream media has been having a field day over the newly reacquired ability of Environment Canada’s “rock snot” scientist to speak to the press about his work. Max Bothwell, who has published multiple studies on the freshwater algae and what makes it grow, became somewhat of a poster boy for the federal scientists affected


Gerry Ritz was a unique minister

Gerry Ritz was a unique minister

Gerry Ritz will be a tough act to follow as agriculture minister. During his eight years in the portfolio, he flew around the globe promoting Canadian farm and food products more times than anyone can count. He was tireless in trying to convince the agriculture and food sectors to act like partners in one of

KAP president Dan Mazier says participants in last week’s agricultural debate did a good job discussing important issues, while being civil to one another.

KAP president pleased with ag debate

Important farm issues were discussed respectfully

Farmers who watched the agriculture debate held in Ottawa Sept. 30 should have a clearer picture of where the major parties seeking election to the House of Commons stand on farm issues, says Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Dan Mazier. Mazier was pleased important agricultural issues were discussed, but also by the fact candidates were

The union representing federal scientists says the Harper 
government’s war on science continues.

AAFC Lethbridge library takes a hit

The department says it is modernizing information delivery, the union says it is trashing valuable research

The library at the Lethbridge Research Centre of Agriculture Canada has been stripped of years of valuable research documents in the Harper government’s latest purge of science, says the union representing 15,000 federal scientists. However, the department insists the dispatch of the library’s collection for recycling is part of “modernizing the delivery of library services


National Farmers Union denounces Lethbridge ‘libricide’

The National Farmers Union has denounced the destruction of publicly funded science documents that were reportedly destroyed recently at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge research station. “This is just the latest in a long line of government libraries where collections were tossed into dumpsters, burned or went to landfills,” the NFU said in a release.

The new Escarpment Habitat Protection Program is seeking landowners along the Manitoba Escarpment between the border and Riding Mountain National Park to voluntarily preserve their property, or parts of it, in its natural state in return for a one-time payment or tax receipt. The following participated in the program’s announcement July 8 at Alexander Ridge Park on the escarpment west of Miami, Man.: Tatiana Moroz (l), Manitoba Forestry Association, Kristen Malec, Manitoba Forestry Association, Tim Sopuck, CEO, Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation, Murray Seymour, chair, Pembina Valley Conservation District, Candice Bergen, MP Portage Lisgar and minister of state for social development, Roy Wood, chair, La Salle Redboine Conservation District, Justin Reid, manager, La Salle Redboine Conservation District and Cliff Greenfield, manager Pembina Valley Conservation District.

VIDEO: New voluntary program to protect Manitoba Escarpment

Participating landowners can still pasture livestock, produce hay, cut firewood and hunt, 
but they can’t burn, break or drain the land

A new voluntary program will offer financial incentives to encourage landowners to protect and restore the Manitoba Escarpment’s natural cover in perpetuity. The goal is not only to conserve flora and fauna providing esthetic benefits, but improve downstream water quality and reduce flooding and costly damage to infrastructure, Cliff Greenfield, manager of the Pembina Valley