File photo of a Suffolk ewe infected with scrapie. (Jack Dykinga photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Two Alberta sheep flocks quarantined for scrapie

Two flocks of sheep in Alberta are under federal quarantine after a sheep that lived at both farms was confirmed June 21 with classical scrapie. A degenerative nervous system disease affecting sheep and goats, scrapie is one of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) family that includes Creutzfelt-Jakob disease in people, BSE in cattle and chronic […] Read more



U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota meets a double-amputee rescue dog at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Rookie U.S. House Democrats call for COOL revival

Several new members of the U.S. House of Representatives who’ve pressed for stronger language on labour and environmental standards in the revised North American free trade deal now also want it to include country-of-origin labeling (COOL) on meat. A letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, dated Tuesday and signed by 27 freshman House Democrats, […] Read more


Rain gives farmers relief, for now, from three-year drought

Rain gives farmers relief, for now, from three-year drought

Winnipeg | Reuters — With drought turning Chad Ross’s pastures brown, the southeastern Saskatchewan rancher sent 140 head of cattle to slaughter earlier than usual this spring, as the Prairies’ three-year drought made them too expensive to feed. The ranch and feedlot near Estevan has lost money two straight years. Long-awaited rains that swept the […] Read more




Precipitation percentiles on the Prairies for the period of April 1 to May 23, 2019. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Drought Watch)

Prairie dryness concerns to persist

MarketsFarm — Large areas of Western Canada remain on the dry side, with little moisture in the immediate forecasts. And while it’s still early in the growing season, the interplay of conflicting patterns from the south and north will determine whether the dry areas receive timely precipitation during the growing season. “We are looking at […] Read more



(PerformanceAg.ca)

Alberta crop input retail groups’ deal off

A proposal to bring together two groups of central Alberta crop input retailers has been called off without closing a deal. Crop Management Network (CMN) said Friday the conditional deal it announced in March to buy Performance Ag Group won’t proceed. CMN, a joint venture between an employee-owned network of retail outlets and La Coop […] Read more