National winners for Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmer for 2017 were awarded on Dec. 1 to Derek & Tannis Axten of Axten Farms in Minton, Sask., and Véronique Bouchard & François Handfield of Ferme aux petits oignons at Mont-Tremblant, Que. “Once again, the seven regional finalists exceeded our expectations as innovative, forward thinking, young agricultural leaders. […] Read more
Winners of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2017 celebrated
Saskatchewan to offer discount option on Crown land
Facing another rent hike in 2018, some Saskatchewan farmers leasing cultivated and “formerly cultivated” Crown land from the province are getting an option to buy the land instead at a 10 per cent discount. Provincial Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart on Tuesday announced a “targeted incentive” program aimed at about 1,100 eligible leaseholders, offering the 10 […] Read more
China to accept Canadian chilled beef, pork in pilot project
Exporters of Canadian beef and pork are set to get expanded access to the “massive” Chinese market through a new bilateral pilot project. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday announced a series of joint initiatives and agreements in several fields including “a pilot project for the export of Canadian chilled […] Read more
Brandt to buy first U.S. manufacturing plant
A Canadian farm and industrial equipment manufacturer is preparing to set up its first U.S. base to make farm equipment for U.S. corn and soybean growers. The Regina-based Brandt Group, whose farm equipment lines include loaders and skid steers as well as augers, conveyors and vacuums for grain handling, announced Friday it will buy a […] Read more
Dairy support prices stand pat for 2018
The Canadian Dairy Commission plans to hold the line on the support levels used to price industrial milk in Canada next year, despite a “small reduction” in the cost of milk production. The commission announced Friday it would maintain the per-kilogram support prices it sets for butter and skim milk powder at $8.0062 and $4.5302 […] Read more
HyLife co-founder Paul Vielfaure, 59
Funeral arrangements are pending for one of the founding brothers behind Prairie hog production and pork processing firm HyLife. Paul Vielfaure died suddenly Nov. 23 at age 59, his family reported in a brief obituary in Winnipeg and Steinbach newspapers this week. Radio-Canada reported Tuesday that Vielfaure had died in Phoenix, Arizona. While Vielfaure was […] Read more
Canadian pork cleared for Argentina
Argentina is now ready to import Canadian pork for the first time in about 15 years, federal officials report. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced Wednesday that access to the Argentinian market has been restored for Canadian pork effective “immediately.” Canadian pork processors had started shipping to Argentina in 1998, […] Read more
Ontario to back baby formula plant
A baby formula plant proposed for eastern Ontario has got a major boost from the Ontario government. The $225 million plant is being built at Kingston by Canada Royal Milk ULC, a subsidiary of Chinese company Feihe International. The Ontario government has committed up to $24 million to the project, which will export baby formula […] Read more
Ontario vegetable grower to lead NFU
An eastern Ontario vegetable grower and women’s leader with the National Farmers Union since 2014 has been picked as the Canada-wide organization’s new chief. Coral Sproule, who operates a CSA (community-supported agriculture) vegetable farm at Perth, Ont. was elected NFU president at the organization’s convention last week in Ottawa, replacing Jan Slomp of Courtenay, B.C. […] Read more
Climate Corp. to partner with Canadian drone data firm
In a bid to bring its eye-in-the-sky views of clients’ fields closer to Earth, Monsanto’s Climate Corp. has struck up a partnership with a Canadian drone data provider. Climate on Nov. 15 announced an “official” partnership with Toronto-based Deveron UAS, which operates a fleet of drones serving farm clients across North America, to deliver “advanced” […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
