A memorial is scheduled Saturday in Toronto for journalist John Phillips, who served 25 years as editor of the Ontario farming journal Farm and Country. Phillips died “peacefully” Wednesday at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga at age 88, according to his obituary. According to Farm and Country’s successor magazine Better Farming, Phillips was the now-defunct […] Read more
Farm and Country editor John Phillips, 88
Gluten-free claim allowed on some oat products
Celiac sufferers needing foods free of gluten will now be able to get certain oat products with a “gluten-free” claim. Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose on Friday announced the allowed claim for oat products that are produced and processed to avoid cross-contamination by gluten from other cereals’ grains and products. Celiac disease, a hereditary condition, […] Read more
Que. pledges reserve to backstop risk management programs
Quebec’s agriculture ministry plans to set up a $300 million reserve fund to backstop any sudden shortfalls in provincial risk management program funds for farmers. Speaking Thursday to the provincial pork producer group, Les Eleveurs de porcs du Quebec, Agriculture Minister Pierre Paradis said the province will set up the reserve over the next two […] Read more
West’s soaked, parched tax deferral zones expanded
More rural municipalities and counties that saw drought or excess moisture last year have been added to the federal list of areas where ranchers may now defer some of their 2014 taxable income. The federal government on Thursday rolled out its final list of designated areas for the 2014 tax year, adding to an already-long […] Read more
Canada to check India’s feed corn for aflatoxin
All feed corn coming to Canada from India is now going to be held and tested for aflatoxin, as high levels of the toxins have recently turned up in organic corn from the country. Importers of corn — organic or otherwise — from India, starting immediately, first must sample the corn, upon arrival in Canada […] Read more
CONTEST CLOSED: Farm Progress Show tickets
Editor’s Note: Many, many thanks to everyone who entered, but as much as we wish we had free tickets for everyone, the contest is now closed. Our 50 winners can expect to be notified later today by email, and if all goes well, I’ll have the tickets in the mail by the end of the day. If you’re […] Read more
Alberta NDP taps ex-AAFC staffer as ag minister
A former technician with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has been named as the Alberta New Democrats’ first minister of agriculture, forestry and rural development. Premier Rachel Notley on Sunday named Whitecourt-Ste. Anne MLA Oneil Carlier to the now-expanded portfolio, which takes over responsibility for forestry from the department of environment and sustainable resource development. Including Notley […] Read more
Arrest made in alleged Alberta hay fraud
A Lethbridge businessman is due in court next month to answer to charges that a Taber, Alta.-area farm business was defrauded out of six figures’ worth of hay. The Taber Police Service said Friday it had completed a “lengthy investigation” into allegations of fraud in which hay was obtained “under false pretenses” from a local […] Read more
SW Ont. poultry sectors nearer business-as-usual, almost
Quarantines on several poultry operations in southwestern Ontario could be removed by the end of next month, assuming no new cases of avian flu turn up in the region — just in time for another notifiable poultry disease to appear. The Feather Board Command Centre — the emergency response unit for the province’s chicken, turkey […] Read more
Potato ‘fields’ clarified for cross-border trade
Canadian and U.S. food inspectors have agreed on what they mean by a “field” in any restrictions they place on potato trade on account of potato cyst nematodes. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Tuesday announced new revisions to their Guidelines on Surveillance and Phytosanitary […] Read more
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