Ag News

Canada’s Food Price Report 2023 was released on Monday.

According to the report food prices are predicted to increase five to seven per cent. 

The most substantial increases are expected to occur in vegetables, dairy, and meat. 

Stats show that Canadians haven’t seen food prices increase this high in over 40 years.

Cereals Canada is the latest organization pledging support for the Grain Growers of Canada's 'Road to 2050'.

The GGC says the ‘Road to 2050’ climate solutions initiative will propose a path that focuses on innovation, research, and beneficial management practices that will reduce emissions while feeding a growing world population. 

Mark Walker, Vice President of Markets and Trade with Cereals Canada says we know that Canadian farmers are sustainable.

Alberta is increasing the Feeder Association Loan Guarantee Program to $150 million.

Under the program, feeder association members use the guarantee to secure capital to buy beef calves and sheep.

Those animals are then fed for a number of months before being sold at market.

Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Nate Horner says it's a popular program for producers.

Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau was in Regina on Saturday.

During her visit, she toured Canadian Western Agribition and met with agriculture stakeholders to discuss the government's new Indo-Pacific Strategy. 

She held two roundtable discussions: one with the Canadian Cattle Association, and a second with several Canadian agriculture associations.

Organizers are extremely pleased with the response to this year's show on all levels. 

While final numbers aren't in yet, attendance for the six-day event is expected to hit 100,000.

Exhibitors were happy to be back at the show, with buyers showing a strong interest as sales topped $1.67 million dollars.

This year's show welcomed more than 1,200 international guests from 63 countries.

Genetics were sold to buyers from Australia, Germany and the United States.

Reg Schellenberg was a well-known face and voice, who was well-respected in the beef industry.

The rancher from Beechy (Saskatchewan) was first elected to the Canadian Cattle Association in 2010 and became President of the organization earlier this year.

He served as co-chair of the Foreign Trade Committee, represented the CCA on the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency and co-chaired the Animal Health and Care Committee with Pat Hayes.

When commenting on his friend's passing, Hayes noted that Reg had a well-rounded view of the whole industry.

The Alberta government is working to ease the demand for agriculture and agri-food workers.

In partnership with the federal government, $2.5 million is being made available to Ag for Life to help companies recruit, hire and retain workers in the sector.

Ag for Life has delivered agriculture education to over half a million Albertans since 2011. 

Eligible organizations can apply for grants of up to $40,000 to increase public awareness of agricultural career opportunities through online advertising campaigns.

Cereals Canada and the Canadian Grain Commission have assessed the quality of the new wheat crop and released a New Wheat Crop Report. 

Lisa Nemeth, Director of Market Support and Training with Cereals Canada says the information in that report is shared with our global customers. 

She says following last year's challenges with the drought, prairie farmers were able to see an increase in production for 2022 and brought in a high-quality crop.

The dogs are always popular at Canadian Western Agribition.

This year for the first time we saw an Open Cattle Dog Trial and today the International Stock Dog Championship Trials are underway in the Brandt Centre.

Jared Epp Chairs the Agribition Stock Dog committee and says today's sheep dog event features 45 dogs and lambs that have never been worked by a dog.

It's a busy day in the show and sale ring at Canadian Western Agribition. 

The Chevrolet GMC Arena is the site for the Black Angus, Red Angus and Limousin Show.

All show and sale events are once again being broadcast by Direct Livestock Marketing Systems. 

Mark Shologan is the Director of Purebred and Specialty Livestock for DLMS.