General

REVISED, May 11 — The federal government’s $250 million, two-year program to modernize federal laboratories will see a number of agricultural and agri-food labs share in the funding. MPs on Friday announced $4.9 million in funding for upgrades at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) Saskatoon lab; and $250,000 for upgrades to the growth control […] Read more

A comprehensive trade deal between Canada and the European Union will be “by far the biggest trade agreement that we will ever work on negotiating.” That’s the assessment of Brad Wildeman, president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, one of several groups hailing Wednesday’s announcement of talks toward an “economic partnership agreement” between Canada and the […] Read more

Canadian farmers are seen being among the beneficiaries of a proposed “economic partnership agreement” between Canada and the European Union. Meeting Wednesday in Prague in the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, EU President Mirek Topolanek and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso announced the launch of negotiations between Canada and the 27-nation EU. “This […] Read more

A raise in the cap for guarantees on loans to farmers is among the changes pending as the federal government moves to amend, and rename, its Farm Improvement and Marketing Co-operative Loans Act (FIMCLA). The amendments, introduced Monday in the House of Commons by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, were telegraphed last Friday in Saskatchewan by […] Read more

Cayenne pepper to discourage elephants from grazing on farm fields. Placing a lit candle in a container of grain before sealing it to deprive pests of oxygen. Organizing a community to clean up its water supply. When Canadian journalist George Atkins first visited Africa in the 1970s, he found that Africa’s farmers weren’t short of […] Read more

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk have announced that Manitoba farmers in flood-affected areas will now have until June 30, 2009, to meet the 2009 AgriStability program enrollment requirements. Farmers in flood-affected areas have until June 30, 2009, to:• pay their fee for the 2009 program year without penalty; and,• […] Read more

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced changes to the Farm Improvement and Marketing Co-operative Loans Act (FIMCLA), which will expand credit available to individual farmers and co-operatives. FIMCLA is designed to finance farm improvements and fund the processing, distribution and marketing of farm products. The act currently provides individual farmers with up to 80 per […] Read more

Using radar imagery from the Canadian satellite Radarsat-2, Statistics Canada has analyzed the area of Manitoba farmland covered by this year’s flooding in the Red River Valley, and compared it with the area flooded in “The Flood of the Century” in 1997. The area of flooded agricultural land is estimated using the 2006 Census of […] Read more

The average value of Canadian farmland increased 5.6 per cent during the last six months of 2008. This is the third-highest percentage increase since 1997 and is similar to the 5.8 per cent increase in the fall 2008 report. Farmland values increased in every province except Prince Edward Island, which remained the same. Saskatchewan experienced […] Read more

A new environmental stewardship award that recognizes the efforts of Nova Scotia farmers who carry out sustainable farming practices was announced on Earth Day, April 22. The Farm Environmental Stewardship Award promotes the actions of farmers who are participating in the Nova Scotia Environmental Farm Plan program. More than 1,100 farms have developed plans for […] Read more