Advance payment changes urged

Administrators say federal government needs to build more trust into the Advance Payment Program

Administrators of the Advance Payments Program say Ottawa should stop treating farmers as if they are going to default on repayments.

They said the application process should be streamlined and the program made simpler and more consistent.

Dave Gallant, vice-president of finance and APP operations at the Canadian Canola Growers Association, said the CCGA administers about $2.5 billion in advances each year on behalf of the federal government.

Sask. company tests peat inoculant replacement

A Saskatoon-based company has begun field trials of a replacement for granular peat inoculant.

Peat has been used for decades to inoculate crops such as peas and lentils and is a biological that provides consistent benefits, said Dave Greenshields, who founded Insight Plant Health in 2020.

However, customers are looking for a replacement, he told people attending a recent Canada-Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre field day.

Sask. ag group wants strychnine back

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan has written to the federal government asking for emergency use of strychnine to control gophers
 

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan wants strychnine reinstated under emergency use provisions.

The organization has asked the federal agriculture and health ministers to “urgently” consider the request.

APAS said there is a significant uncontrolled increase in the population of Richardson’s ground squirrels costing about $9 million a year.

Foot-and-mouth disease bank one step closer

Industry is applauding the federal government’s progress toward a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine bank after it awarded supply contracts to two companies.

Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health and Biogenesis Bago SA will supply vaccine products and develop the vaccine bank.

Canadian Cattle Association Saskatchewan director and former Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association president Garner Deobald, who formerly worked for Boehringer, said both companies are well respected and were good choices.

“I think it is important, for sure, to be ready,” he said.

Saskatchewan considers AgriRecovery request in bovine tuberculosis case

The move by Sask. would help producers with the cost of cleaning and disinfection after the disease is found on their farms

Saskatchewan may ask to trigger AgriRecovery for producers affected by bovine tuberculosis.

Provincial agriculture minister Daryl Harrison said last week he had heard from cattle organizations about the need for more help.

Supply management worth keeping: professor

An agricultural ecologist makes the case for building the supply managed model rather than losing it in trade talks.

A Canadian agricultural ecologist says the supply management model is one worth building on, not destroying.

Claude Caldwell, professor emeritus at Dalhousie University and a former federal researcher, said regional and rural-urban divides have developed that send mixed messages to politicians and negotiators, and he worries about upcoming trade negotiations.

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Canadians believe higher food prices on the way: survey

A spring survey to gauge consumer opinions about food pricing, buying habits and values found affordability the top concern

Whether people throw steaks or hot dogs on the barbecue this summer could reflect how they feel about their food spending.

A new report from the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University found increasing anxiety about food affordability compared to last fall.

Sask. producers say bovine TB compensation inadequate

YORKTON, Sask. —Those affected by quarantines and eradication policies want more financial assistance from the federal government.

Efforts to trace the bovine tuberculosis case discovered last fall have put several farms in quarantine and under financial pressure.

The positive test found on a Saskatchewan cow at slaughter Nov. 29, 2024, brought with it numerous ramifications as a result of Canada’s tracing policies to ensure continued trade under international animal health rules.

Policy reform seen as top post-election priority

New mandate called good time to overhaul business risk management programs and other policies that could help agriculture

Prime minister Mark Carney will name his cabinet May 12, and the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute has some advice for the incoming agriculture minister.

Kody Blois from the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants served briefly after Carney replaced Justin Trudeau and is a strong candidate to continue.

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