The Canadian Plant Technology Agency is warning unauthorized seed sellers and potential buyers to avoid trading in “common” seed for the Faller wheat variety. “CPTA regards this situation as very important,” said Lorne Hadley, executive director of the seed industry-backed Canadian Plant Technology Agency, in a release late last week. “Seed sellers and growers are […] Read more
Growing wheat from ‘common’ Faller could get expensive
Sask. federal tree nursery gets assurances through 2013
A storied southeastern Saskatchewan tree nursery that played a central role in remediating the Prairies following the Dirty ’30s and spawned countless shelterbelts across the region is getting a temporary reprieve. The Indian Head Tree Nursery, formerly an operation of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA), went on the chopping block in the spring of […] Read more
First-ever agriculture deals site launched
Farm Business Communications has launched AG-Deals.com, the first-ever deals site for the agricultural sector. “AG-Deals is a great opportunity for both farmers and suppliers,” FBC sales manager Lynda Tityk said in a statement Thursday. “Suppliers can sponsor deals to support specific products or sales initiatives and farmers have access to some of the best pricing […] Read more
FREE: Canada’s first fully-featured app for ag news
Canadian farmers can now track weather, futures markets and agriculture news on their smartphones using a free mobile application from Farm Business Communications. AgReader Mobile is Canada’s first fully-featured app for following agricultural news and markets, with information instantly available on a smartphone rather than through a web browser. Available free at Agreader.ca, the app […] Read more
Canada and Morocco discuss free trade deal
The governments of Canada and Morocco have had discussions in order to identify areas of partnership to strengthen the long-standing trade relationship between the two countries, which includes a large component of agriculture trade. Canadian agriculture minister Gerry Ritz met with Moroccan agriculture minister Aziz Akhenouch and trade minister Abdellatif Mazouz in Rabat, Morocco, […] Read more
Feds back company that turns biowaste into energy
The federal government is investing in a company that makes self-contained power generators that will turn animal manure and other biowaste into electricity. MP Scott Reid (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington) announced today in a media release that the federal government is furnishing up to $480,500 in repayable funding to Powerbase Energy Systems. “This project […] Read more
Quebec kefir granule producer gets development loan
A Quebec company is getting a $386, 500 loan from the federal government to commercialize a revolutionary new process to produce kefir granuals for the cosmetics, human health and animal nutrition markets. Kefir grains are a combination of bacterias and yeasts used to innoculate animal milk, much like live bacterial cultures are used to […] Read more
Leamington-area tomato growers get pipeline
A 40-kilometre pipeline will soon provide tomato growers near this southern Ontario city with a reliable water source for their crops, which will help enhance their productivity and competitiveness. The $1.9 million federal investment was announced today by the federal government in a news release, which said the project would irrigate up to 1500 acres […] Read more
Compost firm to buy bait farm’s worm scat
A Toronto-area company specializing in organic fertilizers made from worm castings has bought a well-known live bait firm’s worm castings business to boost its own output. Forterra Environmental on Monday announced a $45,000 all-stock deal to buy the WormSense business of Pagonis Live Bait, a Toronto family firm that supplies nightcrawlers, red worms, leeches, roe […] Read more
Barley down in mid-month PROs
Weakening feed grain prices, financial market volatility and “bearish supply-side fundamentals” have bit into the Canadian Wheat Board’s latest 2008-09 pool return outlooks (PROs) for barley. The mid-month barley PROs, which the CWB says it’s issuing this year to give farmers more timely price signals, see No. 1 CW feed barley (Pool A) drop $22 […] Read more
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