Updated, May 15 — Over 1.8 million acres of Crown wildlife habitat in southern Saskatchewan may soon be up for sale under a new provincial land management plan. The province on Monday announced what it calls the Southern Conservation Land Management Strategy, which it said will offer ranchers and farmers now leasing the Crown land […] Read more
Sask. to release southern Crown habitat for sale
Former Sask. ag minister won’t run again
Bob Bjornerud, the southeastern Saskatchewan farmer who served almost five years as the province’s agriculture minister, has confirmed his current term in office will be his last. Bjornerud announced Monday he won’t seek another term as the MLA for the constituency of Melville-Saltcoats in the next provincial election, expected in 2016. “Even though I don’t […] Read more
N.S. eyes environmental fee for tractor tires
Nova Scotia’s government is considering adding a “modest” environmental fee on the sale of new farm tractor tires, as part of a broader plan to cut back the amount of junk now headed to landfills. In a discussion paper released Tuesday on solid waste regulation, the province suggests expanding its current regulatory definition of “tires” […] Read more
Bimbo’s Canada Bread takeover gets federal approval
Mexican bakery giant Grupo Bimbo’s proposed takeover of Canada Bread is expected to close as planned on May 23 after clearing its last regulatory hurdle. The Toronto company, 90 per cent owned by processor Maple Leaf Foods, announced Tuesday that Bimbo’s bid has passed federal review under the Investment Canada Act. Such a review is […] Read more
PEDv found in hogs on second SE Manitoba farm
A finisher operation in Manitoba’s livestock-intensive southeast has been confirmed as the second farm in the province to host hogs with porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). According to the office of Manitoba’s provincial chief veterinary officer (CVO), the new case was identified while the CVO was investigating a PED-positive sample from an unnamed “high-traffic site.” The […] Read more
Feds won’t back national pullet marketing agency
The federal government has found the case for a national pullet marketing agency “not compelling” enough to grant the wish of a nationwide pullet producers’ group. A spokesperson for federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz confirmed Wednesday that Ritz had reviewed the report and recommendations of the Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) on the application […] Read more
Toronto’s Quality Meat Packers officially bankrupt
One of the last remnants of Toronto’s “Hogtown” past has formally gone bankrupt, in a move expected to permanently close the doors and strip out the assets at Quality Meat Packers and its Toronto Abattoirs arm. The two pork-packing and -processing companies in early April filed a notice of intention for a proposal to restructure […] Read more
BQ ag critic officially seeking party leadership
Bloc Quebecois MP Andre Bellavance, the party’s ag critic and a former vice-chair of the Commons agriculture committee, is officially in the running for the party’s leadership. Bellavance, 49, a former radio journalist, has been the MP for the riding of Richmond-Arthabaska and the Bloc’s caucus vice-chair since 2004. He’s served as the party’s critic […] Read more
Feds’ grain freight legislation heads to Senate
UPDATED, May 30, 2014: The federal government’s legislative package to tighten the terms of grain freight service agreements between shippers and railways has cleared the House of Commons. Bill C-30, the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act, was delayed last Thursday due to an amendment which Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer ruled out of order. [Related […] Read more
Ontario preparing bee loss compensation
Application packages are expected to be available late next week for Ontario beekeepers to seek compensation for the past year’s “higher than normal” bee colony death losses. Before Friday’s loss of a confidence motion in the legislature, which sends Ontario voters to the polls June 12, the provincial government on Wednesday announced “one-time financial assistance” […] Read more
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