Birds at the 11 commercial poultry farms and one other property hit so far this month by H5N2 avian influenza in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley have been euthanized. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency reported it had completed “depopulation” of the 85 birds including ducks, chickens, geese and turkeys at a “non-commercial” farm in the Aldergrove […] Read more
CFIA caught up on Fraser Valley bird depopulations
Nearly-shuttered Maple Leaf plants still running for now
Two Maple Leaf Foods processing plants tapped in 2011 to close by the end of this year will stay open for a few months yet. Of six further-processing facilities slated for closure by the end of 2014 in the final phase of Maple Leaf’s “value creation plan,” the company’s Courtland Avenue deli and luncheon meat […] Read more
Asian grain trader makes play in Peace region
Singapore grain and pulse crop trader Agrocorp has gone into northwestern Alberta’s Peace region to add more grain processing assets to its Canadian operations. The company announced last week it has bought the Falher Co-operative Seed Cleaning Plant at Falher, about 165 km northeast of Grande Prairie, for an undisclosed sum. The co-operative’s shareholders recently […] Read more
New Dreyfus CEO leaves Agrium board
Mayo Schmidt, the former Viterra chief executive named last month to become CEO of Louis Dreyfus’ global commodities business, has stepped away from the board table at ag input firm Agrium. Calgary-based Agrium, which includes wholesale fertilizer and retail seed, fertilizer and crop protection businesses, announced last Monday (Dec. 22) that Schmidt would resign from […] Read more
Weak bones? Agriculture may be to blame
The invention of agriculture may have allowed for many human advances, but strong bones may not be one of them, say researchers at the University of Cambridge. Writing in the journal PNAS, they says that human skeletons have become much lighter and more fragile since the invention of agriculture. Hunter-gatherers from around 7,000 years ago […] Read more
More duties for Manitoba ag minister
Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn has been appointed as minister of infrastructure and transportation and minister responsible for emergency measures. He replaces Steve Ashton, who has resigned from cabinet to run for NDP leader at a convention in March. Kostyshyn will also remain minister of agriculture, food and rural development, a post he has held […] Read more
Grainews Giveaway contest winners!
What can we say, our Grainews readers love farm equipment and who can resist a new, shiny red tractor! Thanks to our subscribers, website visitors and social media followers, we received a great number of contest entries for our first ever Grainews Giveaway! It was a great success and many thanks to Versatile for supplying […] Read more
Co-ops put Que. urea plant plan on ‘pause’
Development work toward a major new nitrogen fertilizer plant in Quebec is on hold while its partners seek more investors to climb on board. IFFCO — the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative, one of India’s largest fertilizer makers — and Quebec agrifood co-operative giant La Coop federee said Tuesday they’ve suspended preparation of “preliminary plans and […] Read more
CN to pay WGRF $5.2 million
The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) says it will receive $5,231,011 from CN Rail for exceeding its revenue entitlement for 2013-14. The Canadian Transportation Agency ruled Dec. 18 that CN has exceeded its maximum revenue entitlement under legislation that caps the revenue it can receive for grain during the crop year. CP was found to […] Read more
New record corn yield — 503 bushels
Randy Dowdy of Valdosta, Georgia has been declared winner of the U.S. National Corn Growers Association 2014 National Corn Yield Contest with an all-time record of 503 bushels per acre. The 18 winners in six production categories had verified yields averaging more than 383.6 bushels per acre, compared to the projected national average of 173.4 […] Read more
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