Ag News

Food cost inflation continues to be a problem for many Canadians, with many looking to find the reason for those increases.

The House of Commons standing committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food Meeting on Food Inflation has been looking for that answer as inflation continues, recently questioning the agriculture sector.

Drew Lerner with World Weather Inc says we can expect to finish off the Month of March in the prairies with a cool bias.

The Canadian Cattle Association is looking for its next crop of individuals for the Canadian Cattle Young Leaders program.

Jessica Radau, the CCA's Youth Leadership Co-ordinator, says the overall objective is to use the program as a built in industry succession planning tool.

She says the program is designed for people 18 to 35 with an interest in any aspect of the cattle industry.

Drew Lerner with World Weather Inc says we can expect to finish off the Month of March in the prairies with a cool bias.

Manitoba's Cattle Marketing report shows feeder steer prices ranged from an average of $327.68 per cwt for the 401-500 pound category to $226.88 per cwt for the 901+ category. The biggest increase was $9.38 for the 601-700 pound weight category for an average of $297.50 per cwt. Feeder heifers ranged from $273.96 per cwt on average for the 401-500 pound weight category to $198.50 per cwt for the 901+ category.  The biggest increase in the feeder heifer market was $11.38 for the 901+ category for an average price of $198.50 per cwt.

Researchers are coming together with a focus to improve sustainability and manage mountain water sources. 

Scientists say climate change is endangering critical mountain water sources like the Canadian Rockies snowpacks and glaciers, with potential for dire implications.

Mountain water sources play a key role in everything from our drinking water, health and well-being to agriculture, food production, power and energy to industry and ecosystems.

Agriculture Minister David Marit making the announcement at CanMar Foods in Regina this morning.

Marit was joined by Gudie Hutchings, Federal Minister of Rural Economic Development, on behalf of Marie-Claude Bibeau, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

The new Sustainable CAP is a $3.5 billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen competitiveness, innovation, and resiliency in the agriculture sector.

The suite of programs targets five main priority areas:

A total of $7.9 million will go to five companies to support agriculture, agri-food and advanced manufacturing.

The funding will help scale up and bring innovative products and services to market including agriculture based Protein Powered Farms at Perdue, TC Nutrition Inc and SeedMaster Manufacturing Ltd.

Heidi Dutton says Protein Powered Farms and Sunnydale Foods welcome the investment in Saskatchewan’s first commercial-scale extrusion facility.

Each year farmers rely on key information about insect and disease outbreaks in crops across the province. 

That information comes from the Ministry of Agriculture and its partners, in order to provide that they need to be able to access farmers' fields to scout for potential problems.

As a result, the Ministry is looking for producers to sign up to participate in the program.

Crops Extension Specialist Matt Struthers says producer participation is important to be able to monitor the presence and abundance of insects or diseases throughout the province. 

The Western Canadian Wheat Growers (WCWG) and the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) are raising awareness for a campaign by the Agriculture Carbon Alliance (ACA) calling on politicians to support Bill C234.

Bill C-234 (an Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act) still has to go through a third and final vote in the House of Commons.

The GGC encourages producers to highlight the importance of the bill to their Members of Parliament.