Ag News

CP has been given the green light in its takeover of Kansas City Southern Railway.

The US$31 billion purchase will create the first single rail line connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico covering nearly 33,000 kilometres of track.

The merged railway will be known as Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), with CP's chief executive Keith Creel as CEO, and Calgary as the global headquarters.

CP's assistant vice-president of sales and marketing for Canadian grain, Elizabeth Hucker says the new CPKC will benefit Canadian grain shippers by opening new markets and ports.

Manitoba students will have an opportunity to Discover Agriculture in the City this weekend.

On Saturday, The Forks Market will be transformed into a free hands-on learning event celebrating where our food comes from and the people that help get it to our tables.

The annual Discover Agriculture in the City event showcases the best of Manitoba agriculture and the agri-food sector. 

The event kicks off at 9:00 am on the second floor of The Forks Market with a wide range of interactive exhibits on display and the opportunity to meet Manitoba farmers until 3:00 pm.

Whether calving is approaching or you are deep into the hustle of the season, having the necessary equipment clean and ready to use minimizes stress in the chaos.

In a perfect world, preparing to assist an animal in labour should be wasted effort, but rarely does an entire calving season pass where intervention is not needed.

Producers should consider the list of items below as useful items to have available: 

RM delegates had an opportunity to ask questions this week during SARM's bearpit session with Premier Scott Moe and his cabinet ministers.

The reeve of Val Marie Larry Grant brought up the issue of the growing deer and elk population destroying feed stacks noting that producers on the western side of the province have been going through drought and struggling to access feed.

Grant called for immediate action to reduce the numbers --- noting that in his area if they can get it producers are paying $200 a bale for hay delivered that is being destroyed.

Farmers taking part in this week's Cropportunities event learned what goes on behind the scenes in setting up a research trial with Wheatland Conservation Area (WCA).

WCA Farm Manager Bryan Nybo also talked about one of the research trials from last year looking at 'Managing Drought Risk Using Split Applications Of Nitrogen'.

The issue of food prices or food inflation is on everyone's mind as they wander through the grocery store trying to feed their family while trying to stay within their budget.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a professor and director at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

He's known as the food professor and took part in a fireside chat during the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities Annual Convention this week.

The Agri-Food Analytics Lab says Canadians could see a five to seven per cent spike in food prices in 2023.

Alberta Beef Producers, Alberta Cattle Feeders Association, and the Canadian Cattle Association say a resiliency report for Alberta’s meat processing sector identified barriers to building resiliency.

The report identified a number of barriers and provided some key recommendations from addressing immediate labour constraints, to harmonizing processing standards between jurisdictions, and increasing support for processors.

Also included in Alberta's Beef Competitiveness Study was a feasibility assessment of wholesale beef price reporting.

The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Outstanding Service to Rural Saskatchewan was presented to the family of the late Harold Martens. 

In presenting the award, Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty talked about Harold Martens dedication to public service noting that it started in 1973 when Harold was first elected as a councillor for the RM of Saskatchewan Landing, later serving as Reeve.

The Agriculture Financial Services Corporation is clearing up some confusion over increased crop insurance premium increases.

High commodity prices and increased payouts from drought were cited as the reasons for premium increases reported to be 60 per cent.

However, AFSC says the 60 per cent increase referenced in Alberta’s Fiscal Plan, and widely reported, relates to the 2022 budgeted premium compared to the 2023 budgeted premium, and not actual premiums.

The cows on Lyuba Pastushok's farm are like her "cheeky children," she explained in Ukrainian as she walked among her growing herd, gently cooing to them and softly petting their heads.

A few years ago there were only five cows on her small family operation in Holoskovychi, a rural community an hour and a half east of the nearest city of Lviv, in western Ukraine.

Now she tends to 25 cows, six of which she bought after Russian forces invaded the country.