U.S. fast food chain Wendy’s aims to source all of its chicken products from birds raised without the use of antibiotics “important to human medicine” by 2017. Columbus, Ohio-based Wendy’s, the world’s No. 3 burger chain behind McDonald’s and Burger King, said in a blog post Wednesday about 50 per cent of its chicken supply […] Read more

Wendy’s aims for antibiotic-free chicken by next year

North Saskatchewan River users still await all-clear
As the cleanup of the Husky Energy oil spill continues on the North Saskatchewan River, officials had a spot of good news during a recent media call. Collected water samples haven’t exceeded Canadian drinking water standards since July 24. As of Tuesday, over 1,000 water samples had been collected from over 60 locations between the […] Read more

Bunge canola plant damaged in fire
U.S. agrifood processor Bunge is sizing up damage to its canola crushing plant at Nipawin in northeastern Saskatchewan after a fire in one of its buildings Tuesday. According to local media, firefighters were called to the plant late Tuesday afternoon and fought a fire at the site until after midnight. Scott Roblin of the Nipawin […] Read more

Manitoba threshing bee yields new world record
Owners and operators of antique threshing machines unofficially cracked the world record for a threshing bee at a fundraising event Sunday for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Manitoba Agricultural Museum. The Harvesting Hope event, held at the museum site at Austin, about 45 km west of Portage la Prairie, saw 139 threshing machines run simultaneously […] Read more

Northern port supporters appeal to government
A consortium supporting continued operation of the Port of Churchill met with federal and provincial government representatives this week in search of ways to keep the port open. “This is an emergency for our community, our region and indeed our country,” Churchill Mayor Mike Spence in a release. “We’ve been told by farmers that there […] Read more

Canadian researcher named FAO pulse ambassador
Canada’s pulse crop sector is celebrating the appointment of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher Joyce Boye as the FAO’s special ambassador for the International Year of the Pulses (IYP) 2016. Boye’s appointment was announced last month at a special event hosted by the FAO Liaison Office for North America in Washington, DC. “I am humbled […] Read more

Leading insecticide cuts bee sperm by almost 40 per cent
The world’s most widely used insecticide is an inadvertent contraceptive for bees, cutting live sperm in males by almost 40 per cent, The Guardian in the UK is reporting. Citing research led by Lars Straub at the University of Bern, Switzerland, the report says neonicotinoid pesticides were found to cut the lifespan of the drones […] Read more

Wilf Keller elected new AIC board chair
Wilf Keller is the new head of the Agricultural Institute of Canada. Keller is a well-known agricultural researcher who has worked for nearly 40 years mainly in the field of biotechnology development and application for the genetic modification of crops. In this time he has led numerous major research efforts. Keller worked at the Research […] Read more

New crop year reminders for western producers and industry
The Canadian Grain Commission is reminding the grain industry and producers about grain grading changes that come into effect on August 1, 2016 in Western Canada. Primary and export grade determinant tables for the new Canada Northern Hard Red and Canada Western Special Purpose wheat classes take effect. Canada Western Feed, Canada Western General Purpose […] Read more

Farmers dismayed over Port of Churchill closure
Manitoba’s largest general farm organization Keystone Agricultural Producers is calling on the federal government to keep the Port of Churchill operating until the end of the 2016 shipping season and beyond. Workers at the Port of Churchill were told Monday there would be no grain shipments going through the port this season, leaving approximately 10 […] Read more