Farmland values up sharply

The average value of Canadian farmland increased 7.7 per cent during the last six months of 2007, Canada’s highest increase since 2002. This is higher than the 3.6 per cent increase in the first six months of 2007. Most provinces continue to see growth in farmland values, with British Columbia experiencing a huge 14.5 per […] Read more

Farm radio network has new name

A Canadian organization that supports African farmers through radio broadcasts has a new name — Farm Radio International/Radios Rurales Internationales. The Ottawa-based charity researches and produces scripts about farming and rural development and distributes them to over 300 radio broadcasters in Africa, enabling them to reach farmers who often have no other source of information. […] Read more


Saskatchewan EFPs funded

The Saskatchewan Agri-Environmental Advisory Council, the producer group responsible for providing direction for the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program, will receive one-year funding during the transition between the Agriculture Policy Framework (APF) and Growing Forward, the new agricultural policy framework. The funding results from an agreement between the provincial and federal governments The council says […] Read more

Viterra launches house-branded crop protection products

Grain company Viterra (formerly Sask Wheat Pool) has announced the introduction of its first self-branded crop protection product for Western Canadian farmers. Cypress, a herbicide offered exclusively through Viterra, is a new option for spring wheat and durum growers in the brown and dark brown soil zones. “We are very excited to launch Cypress. This […] Read more


British PM sounds biofuel warning

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has written to Japanese Prime Minister and G-8 Nations Chairman Yasuo Fukuda calling for a discussion of the impact of biofuel production on food prices at the Group of Eight rich nations summit in July. “There is a growing consensus that we need urgently to examine the impact on food […] Read more

FAO sounds alarm on food supplies

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is sounding the alarm over food supplies and prices in several countries. The cereal import bill of the world’s poorest countries is forecast to rise by 56 per cent in 2007/2008. This comes after a significant increase of 37 per cent in 2006/2007, FAO said in a […] Read more


Manitoba government tables hog moratorium legislation

The Manitoba government has tabled legislation that would permanently enshrine the province’s moratorium on developing new hog barns in certain areas Water protection would be strengthened and the long-term environmental sustainability of the hog industry would be ensured under amendments to the Environment Act, Struthers said as he introduced the legislation. Under the amendments, the […] Read more

Hay industry upbeat on exports, prices

(Resource News International) — Declining U.S. hay acreage will provide greater export opportunities for Canadian producers in the upcoming 2008-09 crop year, with prices expected to firm, according to industry sources. Hay acreage in the U.S. for 2008-09 was pegged in the March 31 U.S. Department of Agriculture prospective plantings report at 60.6 million acres, […] Read more


Federal food safety bill tabled

A federal bill to boost the fines for food safety violations and strengthen federal powers to order product recalls has arrived at the House of Commons. A new Consumer Product Safety Act and amendments to the Food and Drugs Act were in the legislative package introduced Tuesday. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a release […] Read more

Canadian, U.S. ag market researchers merge

Canadian market research firm Ipsos Reid’s agribusiness, food and animal health division has announced plans to merge its practice with Forward Research, a U.S. firm in the same field of interest. The combined company will be known in the U.S. as Ipsos Forward Research, the two firms said in a release Monday. “For years we’ve […] Read more