U.S. fertilizer firm Mosaic Co. has put expansion work at its southeastern Saskatchewan potash mining site on an “accelerated” timeline. Mosaic, which said in 2008 it would invest $1.7 billion to add 1.8 million tonnes of capacity at its Esterhazy, Sask. site by 2020, now plans to have its new “K3” satellite mine delivering potash […] Read more
Mosaic fast-tracking Esterhazy potash mine expansion
CP’s shopcraft staff ratify new labour deal
Repair, maintenance and locomotive and rail car inspection staff at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) have voted to ratify the last-minute deal that kept them off the picket line. The 1,625 unionized workers, represented by Unifor’s CP shopcraft bargaining unit, voted 79 per cent in favour of their four-year deal at membership meetings over the past […] Read more
Monsanto rolls out fababean inoculant
Fababean growers in Canada in the market for a granular inoculant now have their first-ever option. Monsanto BioAg, the joint microbial marketing arm for Novozymes and Monsanto, announced Friday it will now launch TagTeam fababean granular inoculant, which picked up Canadian Food Inspection Agency approval last fall. The product’s CFIA registration covers its dual-action use […] Read more
Ont. expands rain gauge options for forage insurance
Ontario farmers buying production insurance for forage crops this year can use data from up to three rainfall reporting stations in their coverage. Agricorp, which manages Ontario’s provincial farm programs and production insurance, said Thursday its move will allow forage growers enrolled in the forage rainfall plan to choose stations closer to the spots where […] Read more
Canada blocking poultry, eggs from Minnesota
Discovery of H5N2 avian flu at a commercial turkey operation in central Minnesota has led Canada to curb cross-border imports of poultry and eggs from the state. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Friday announced restrictions blocking any raw poultry or poultry products or byproducts that aren’t fully cooked. Such products — including eggs […] Read more
H5N2 avian flu found in Minnesota turkey flock
U.S. officials have confirmed a commercial turkey flock in central Minnesota to be the first in the Mississippi flyway with a highly pathogenic strain of H5N2 avian flu. The high-path strain is confirmed as the same seen in recent months in backyard flocks and wild birds in the Pacific flyway states of Washington, Oregon and […] Read more
Francophone ag education in E. Ont. under new management
An established francophone college has been named to co-ordinate delivery of French-language agricultural education programs in eastern Ontario. The province on Thursday announced Ottawa-based Collège La Cité will take on that role — and take the lead in delivering several such programs this fall at Campus d’Alfred (UGCA), which, for now, is a francophone campus […] Read more
WTO appeal panel to rule on COOL by mid-May at latest
A World Trade Organization panel, after hearing the U.S. government’s appeal in defense of mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) for meat, now expects to file its decision no later than May 18. The WTO Appellate Body, which on Feb. 17 heard the U.S. appeal and rebuttals from Canada and Mexico, served notice Thursday to the WTO […] Read more
McDonald’s to ‘evaluate’ antibiotic use in Canadian chicken
The Canadian arm of fast-food giant McDonald’s isn’t yet moving to follow its U.S. counterpart’s plans to phase out use of certain antibiotics on chickens in its supply chain. The U.S. chain announced Wednesday it would move, over the next two years, to only purchase chicken “raised without antibiotics that are important to human medicine.” […] Read more
Sask. backs new northeastern shortline
A Canadian National Railway (CN) spur line in northeastern Saskatchewan, set to become the province’s 14th shortline this spring, has picked up provincial financing. The provincial government on Wednesday announced an interest-free loan worth about $550,000 for Kinistino-based Northern Lights Railroad to buy 59 km of track from Melfort west to Birch Hills on CN’s […] Read more
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