Ag News

Work continues to turn the old XL beef plant at Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan) into a new pork processing facility.

The new owners Donald's Fine Foods bought the beef plant in May of 2020, and have been working on retrofitting the facility for its new role as a sow slaughter plant.

Donald's already owns and operates the Thunder Creek pork facility in Moose Jaw.

Neil Ketilson, the industrial relations manager for Donald's Fine Foods, says work is progressing at the site.

It's back to work in Ottawa this week for M.P.'s.

John Barlow, the Conservative's shadow minister for agriculture and agri-ood says its good to be back, adding there's a lot of issues for the ag sector that need to be addressed. 

He says first and foremost is the impact of the carbon tax for producers citing a report that came out late last year looking at the Canadian Food Index.

Senators return to session this week.

Senator Robert Black, Chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry says during the last session the committee held 29 meetings and heard from 115 witnesses on a variety of topics from legislation to special studies. 

The studies included looking at the impacts of the B.C. floods and work on a long-awaited new soil study.

He says the last soil study was done in 1984.

Wheat midge is one of the top three most damaging insect pests for wheat crops in the prairies.

Dr.Tyler Wist is a field crop entamologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon.

During this week's "Think Wheat" meetings he talked about the Midge Busters phermone trap monitoring project.

Producers and agronomists that volunteer for the program are given a phermone trap to put out in the wheat field, they then count the wheat midge on their traps bi-weekly.

The governments of Canada and Manitoba are investing $98,970 through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to upgrade the University of Manitoba’s horticulture storage facility so it can conduct innovative potato research, federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Derek Johnson announced today.

The Canadian Grain Commission’s new Science Strategy is now available.

The strategy lays out a vision for the future of science and research at the Canadian Grain Commission and positions us to respond to the latest trends and developments in the grain sector.

Based on consultations with producer and industry organizations, end users, academia as well as other provincial and federal government departments, the Science Strategy identifies 5 drivers that will shape the future of grain science into the next decade:

The Alberta Wheat Commission held its Annual General Meeting this week during the CrossRoads Crop Conference in Edmonton.

There are no changes in the executive.

The board of directors putting Greg Sears from Sexsmith back as chair, while Jason Lenz of Bentley and Shawn Jacula of Vermillion resume their roles as vice-presidents.

A key issue for the executive will be the amalgamation of Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley.

Sears says over the next few months, they look forward to building a well-thought-out platform for the new commission to launch from.

For livestock producers having access to a good, clean water supply is key.

Water quality can affect the feed intake, the absorption of nutrients, and overall productivity of animals.

Livestock and Feed Extension specialist Alicia Sopatyk  encourages producers to get their water tested, adding one of the most common problems tends to be high sulfates.

Lakeland College is moving its bison herd to a new location.

By the end of the month, the bison will be relocated to their new home south of Vermillion thanks to the generosity of Armin and Rita Mueller.

A historic $4 million donation from the couple was specifically identified for that purpose.

Lakeland bought the land which includes eight contiguous quarters, handling facilities, outbuildings, fencing and full services for $7,780,000.

The Enterprise Machine Intelligence Learning Initiative (EMILI) and Assiniboine Community College (ACC) are working together on ag-tech innovation and education.

The two hope to increase digital skills to address labour shortages in the ag sector. 

Studies show that Canada’s ag sector could be facing a shortage of 123,000 workers by 2030.

RBC's Farmer 4.0 Report suggests that the advanced technologies 
emerging across agriculture and sub-sectors will change the skills needed in the sector over the next decade.