Ag News

Alberta is introducing a new agri-processing tax credit that will create jobs, diversify the economy and ensure producers have a competitive market for their goods.

Nate Horner the minister of agriculture and irrigation made the announcement at Harmony Beef on Wednesday.

Insect control products are re-evaluated by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to ensure products continue to meet health and safety standards and environmental standards. There are cyclical reviews, which occur 15 years after initial registration and special reviews, which can be triggered by significant concerns both in Canada and in other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Cereals Canada, Ducks Unlimited and prairie winter wheat producer groups have created the Habitat Friendly Winter Wheat Ecolabel Program to encourage winter wheat acreage.

Leif Carlson, the director of market intelligence and trade policy at Cereals Canada, says Ducks Unlimited research has shown that ducks that nest in winter wheat stubble are 24 times more successful than those that are nested in spring-planted cereals.

The Prairieland Youth Leadership Conference handed out a total of $12,000 in scholarships over the weekend.

This year's event included presentations from Saskatchewan's Agriculture YouTuber "Ag with Mady" as well 
as guest speakers Clinton Monchuk and Dorothy Long from Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan. 

The annual conference covered a number of topics from social media storytelling to communications strategies in 
agriculture and effective brainstorming skills. 

Jonathon Meyer is a Grain Merchandiser for Purely Canada Foods and we caught up with him recently to talk about durum acres, prices and the outlook of that commodity for farmers.  

Reports out of the Durum Summit have global supply and demand fairly balanced. “I think seeded acres will stick around that 6 million mark, similar to last year” Meyer stated. He also mentioned that the price of spring wheat and durum have come within a dollar per bushel and that would cause a few fringe areas to switch back to wheat. 

The number of feeder cattle sold through Saskatchewan Auction Marts last week was up with 14,068 head sold.

Meantime, Canfax reports show year-to-date feeder cattle marketings are 11 per cent off 2022 levels.

The Province's livestock development intern Jayce Fossen says the cattle herd has been in decline since about 2006.

Jonathan Meyer is a Grain Merchandiser for Purely Canada Foods and we caught up with him recently to talk about durum acres, prices and the outlook of that commodity for farmers.  

Reports out of the Durum Summit have global supply and demand fairly balanced. “I think seeded acres will stick around that 6 million mark, similar to last year” Meyer stated. He also mentioned that the price of spring wheat and durum have come within a dollar per bushel and that would cause a few fringe areas to switch back to wheat. 

G3 is renewing its support of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA).

The company is committing $50,000 to CASA in 2023, maintaining G3’s position as a top sponsor and Safety Champion of the BeGrainSafe program.

CASA’s BeGrainSafe program raises awareness of the risks of becoming trapped in grain, trains firefighters in rescue techniques, and makes available specialized grain rescue equipment to rural fire departments.

The chief economist with Farm Credit Canada says we are better off in the ag sector with a low Canadian dollar to the U-S.

The lower Canadian dollar makes our products more competitive in the global market.

J.P. Gervais expects to see a decline in the Loonie for the first half of the year before starting to recover/

Who needs weather satellites when you have pig spleens?

The Pig Spleen Forecast for 2023 has been conducted by Jeff Woodward, a professional pig spleen prognosticator. His family has been doing these forecasts ever since his Grandparents immigrated from Sweden. 

"I think my grandfather would do it as sort of a joke when he was a farmer in southwest Saskatchewan," said Woodward. "My uncle saw them doing this and then when he retired he decided that he was going to take it up in earnest. He gained a lot of notoriety when he made some predictions that came true."