Ag News

CPKC's Assistant Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Bulk Elizabeth Hucker says the rail network has bounced back following last month's work stoppage but it will still take more time for supply chains to fully recover and car cycles to normalize.

She says since that work outage in grain shipping week 3 CPKC has seen a steady increase in demand for rail services to locations like Thunder Bay, Vancouver, Eastern Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Vetavision got underway Friday at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.

The event which is open to the public wraps up on Saturday and features over 30 live animals.

Students organize the event to promote the College and the veterinary profession from large animal vets to small animal vets, radiologists, ophthalmologists, pathologists, rehabilitation experts, and more.

The event features 26 student displays plus numerous demonstrations.

Friday's Weekly Potato Report from Manitoba Agriculture noted that the potato harvest in the province is estimated at about 15 to 20 per cent complete, ranging from those who have yet to start to producers that now have over 50 per cent completed.

Potato & Horticulture Crops Pathologist Vikram Bisht says tuber set and size profile are generally good, with a large percentage of tubers in the 5 to 10 oz range. 

Farmers now have 63 per cent of the provincial crop in the bin, up from the five and ten-year averages of 43 and 38 per cent.

Harvest progress varies from 80 per cent complete in the South to 73 per cent in the Central Region, while the other areas are now 50 per cent complete.

The Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association annual district meetings begin next week and will continue through October.

CEO Grant McLellan says the meetings provide an opportunity for producers to come out and share their views on the organization and a variety of other issues ranging from the Saskatchewan Marshall Service to increasing the producer check-off.

Some farmers experienced a delay in harvest activity with the recent rains.

The latest crop report shows precipitation for the past week ranged from 0 mm to 24.2 mm, with most of the rain reported in the Central and Southwest regions. The most precipitation 24.2 mm was reported at Windygates.

Manitoba Agriculture reports the provincial harvest is now 55 per cent complete with the Central Region leading the way at 68 per cent.

Rainfall over the last week caused some farmers a slight delay in harvest activity, but it's a welcome sight for areas that have been fairly dry.

Crop Extension Specialist Tyce Masich says it's not ideal to see rain in the middle of harvest, but the moisture has been a relief for dry areas.

"It has been absolutely incredible this summer. Here we are in mid-September and the grass looks greener than June a lot of years," says Killarney Auction Mart's Allan Munroe. 

"Hay is far easier to source... there is lots of good hay out there with lots of volume.  The cows, it looks like are going to have pasture for quite a while yet," he adds. "The grain prices are certainly to the benefit of the cattle feeder right now."

There's some good news for Canada's pulse sector as industry representatives gather this week in Winnipeg for the Annual Pulse and Special Crops Convention.

India announced late last week that it would once again extend the timeline for duty-free imports of yellow peas until December 31st, 2024.

India originally lifted the duties on pea imports on a temporary basis in December of 2023 and has continued to issue temporary extensions since then, while the import duty exemption on lentils is in place through March 31, 2025.

P&H Milling Group, a division of Parrish & Heimbecker Limited, have started construction on a new, state-of-the-art flour milling facility in Red Deer County. 

A sod-turning event earlier this month marked the start for the $241 million facility which will have the capacity to mill an estimated 750 metric tonnes of wheat daily from Western Canadian farmers.