General & Production Tips

Hail beats up southern Alberta for a second year

By Helen Mcmenamin, GFM Network News July 15, 2013

Southern Alberta has had quite a beating from Mother Nature this summer. The hail season started early with crop-damaging hailstorms during the last week of May in both Lethbridge and Vulcan areas. Storms were particularly violent and widespread over July 5-8, when some motorists reported driving through hailstorms as tough as any winter storm and […] Read more

Crops, General, Markets, Weather

U.S. crop weather not picture-perfect, but pretty good

By Reuters, GFM Network News July 15, 2013

Corn and soybean growing weather in the U.S. Midwest this week will not be ideal, but overall it should be satisfactory in most key acreage areas, agricultural meteorologists said on Monday. • Global Weather Monitoring said the forecasts were not perfect for crop-growing conditions but it also will not be ultra hot or dry. • […] Read more

General, Livestock

High injury rates in livestock raising and processing

By GFM Network News July 15, 2013

A new report by Allsup, a U.S. disability insurance provider, puts livestock raising and slaughtering among the top 11 industry groups with the highest serious injury rates nationwide. The report is based on data obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top 11, based on job transfer or restriction per […] Read more

General

Ritz stays as agriculture minister

By GFM Network News July 15, 2013

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz kept his post in a cabinet shuffle announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper today. Maxime Bernier, formerly Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism, movest to Minister of State for Agriculture. In the other major portfolio affecting agriculture, former Labour Minister Lisa Raitt becomes the new minister of transport, succeeding Denis Lebel, who […] Read more

Crops, General, Livestock

GM alfalfa protested at seed meeting

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News July 15, 2013

A group opposed to genetic modification of seeds says it will protest outside the Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA) annual meeting in Quebec City today. The CSTA says it has offered to meet with the protesters, but they have declined. The protest is organized by Vigilance OGM, a Quebec-based group which last week announced the […] Read more

General, Machinery, Weather

Alberta’s farms escape worst of flooding

By GFM Network News June 29, 2013

The impact of historic-high flooding on Alberta’s agriculture industry isn’t expected to be severe. “It is early. I would say at this point we don’t have any reports of catastrophic damage to crops and livestock,” said provincial Agriculture Minister Verlyn Olson. “I’m sure there will be cases where there is some damage but for the most […] Read more

General, Machinery, Markets

EU takes step back from market-driven farming

By GFM Network News June 27, 2013

Reforms agreed by European Union negotiators on Wednesday offer subsidies to keep farms producing in regions where conditions are hard, going against the bloc’s shift towards relying on market forces in agriculture. Since 1992, the EU has been altering its common agricultural policy (CAP) to encourage farmers to grow crops in response to market prices, […] Read more

General, Weather

In pictures: Southern Alberta in deep

By GFM Network News June 24, 2013

General, Weather

Too early to assess flood’s impact on Alta. farmland: AgMin

By GFM Network News June 22, 2013

It’s still too early to assess the “full extent” of the impact on southern Alberta’s farmland in the wake of massive flooding that has led to the evacuation of several communities in the region and shut down the city of Calgary. The province’s agriculture minister, Verlyn Olson, said Friday on Twitter that the ag department […] Read more

General, Markets

U.S. House deals shock defeat to Farm Bill

By GFM Network News June 20, 2013

Republican budget-cutters joined with Democratic defenders of food stamps on Thursday to deal a shocking defeat to the proposed US$500 billion, five-year farm bill backed by Republican leaders, undermining hopes of enacting such legislation before the current stop-gap law expires. “Today’s failure leaves the entire food and agriculture sector in the lurch,” the American Soybean […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures higher on screwworm news

Trade mission heads for Japan as Canada becomes the country’s top pork supplier

U.S. grains: Soybeans drop on lack of Chinese demand, wheat hits contract lows

GFM Network News