Ag News

An agricultural equipment retailer has made a hefty donation to the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital Foundation.

Sean Young, assistant general manager of Young's Equipment, says a big part of the donation was helping out more rural areas.

Protein Industries Canada is looking to promote a new project to help entice farmers to use an up-and-coming legume in fields.

They announced the Lupin platform, along with PURIS Holdings and YOSO Canada, to expand the Canadian lupin ecosystem by increasing opportunities for farmers and ingredient processors and bringing new plant-based protein products to market.

The Manitoba crop report shows that Manitoba's seeding progress is slowing thanks to some recent rainfall.

The current report has the area sitting at 64 per cent complete, a jump from last week's 47 percent, though that's still behind the five-ear average of 75 per cent.

Dennis Lange, the author of Manitoba Agriculture's crop report, says that the province saw significant rainfall. 

A recent Leger poll for the Canadian Teachers Federation shows that respondents from around the country feel that farmers shouldn't have to pay carbon taxes on natural gas and propane.

The question showed that a net 70 per cent of respondents agreed, with 39 per cent strongly supporting it and 31 per cent somewhat supporting it.

Meanwhile, a net 15 per cent opposed taking that carbon tax off with 8 per cent somewhat opposing it and 7 per cent strongly opposing it.

The federal government's committee on agriculture and agri-food has released a new report recommending 10 different methods which they believe can help with high food prices.

The Committee says they held seven meetings on efforts to stabilize food prices between 4 December 2023 and 27 February 2024, with the report summarizing the evidence provided during these meetings.

They recommended the following:

Native grasslands are a key part of the agricultural system of the prairies, with producers relying on those to keep cattle fed.

Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Agri-Environmental Specialist Kaitlin Burns talks about what makes a native grassland.

The most recent cattle market reports show that a lot of categories saw drops in prices.

The Manitoba weekly auction mart report showed that last week feeder steer prices fell, ranging from an average of $430.50 per cwt for the 401 to 500-pound weights to $316.50 per cwt for the 801 to 900-pound category.  The biggest drop of $26.83 per cwt came in the 501-600 weight category dropping to an average of $395.50 per cwt, with no category showing an increase in price.

Alberta's fields have been sated over the week as rain has blanketed the province giving some much-needed moisture.

However, that's also led to seeding progress stalling thanks to that rain, with some farmers even reporting light snow and hail over the week.

In total, Alberta farmer's progress is around 25 per cent to 58 per cent complete. 

In terms of seeding progress of major crops, dry peas are pulling ahead with 82 per cent complete, while oats are at the back of the pack with 36 per cent complete.

The Canadian Agriculture Human Resource Council released a report on a recent survey they held which looked at labour conditions in agriculture.

The survey included 609 employees from a total of 140 different agricultural organizations, looking across different levels of responsibility.

The survey found that across all roles, the weighted average and median hourly rate increased with each level of increased role responsibility.

The CAHRC provided the following info:

Pulse growers have a few things to look forward to this year as trade seems to be opening up in international markets.

Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Executive Director Carl Potts talks about India opening up recently.