Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced a federal investment of over $4 million in Saskatoon on Tuesday for agronomy research through the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF). It will be matched with more than $1.9 million from WGRF itself, and $1.5 million from grower groups and industry partners, bringing total funding for the second iteration... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
No matter how you slice it, Ontario's Ford government took liberties with the rules when it decided to re-draw the boundaries of Toronto's Greenbelt. (You can read the auditor general's report about how many liberties, here). A staunch supporter of farmland preservation, Peggy Brekveld, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, says that there's no... Read More
Urban sprawl is a real threat to farmland long-term in many areas of Canada and the U.S., but our attitude about developing farmland is littered with hypocrisy. As I see it, farmers are in the land business as much as the food production business and that is the reality we tend not to discuss openly.... Read More
Government policies that promote the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) are unlikely to make a major dent in future demand for renewable diesel, says an author of a recent report on the future of the renewable diesel market. Unlike biodiesel, renewable diesel can be directly substituted in diesel engines. Production capacity in the U.S. is... Read More
A three-year pilot program will begin this September to help reduce the administrative burden of accessing the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program. The Recognized Employer Program (REP) will first be made available to agricultural workers this September before a wider rollout in January 2024. The program will be available to those companies who regularly access... Read More
The Conservative Party of Canada and leader Pierre Poilievre have clearly made the Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR) a target in political messaging, tagging it as the "second carbon tax." For advocates of biofuels in farm country and Ottawa this should be a wake-up call for the longer term development of the biofuel sector in Canada.... Read More
There has been a tremendous amount of fanfare and anticipation regarding the intended expansion of canola crushing capacity on the Canadian Prairies, driven mainly by expected demand for renewable diesel across North America. Companies such as Cargill, Richardson, Federated Co-op, Viterra, Bunge, and Ceres Global Ag have all jumped into the fray, announcing hundreds of... Read More
When Doug Ford's provincial government changed the boundaries for Toronto's Greenbelt in 2022, it failed to consider environmental, agricultural, and financial risks and impacts. It also proceeded with the deal with little input from experts or affected parties, and favoured certain developers/landowners, says Ontario's auditor general, Bonnie Lysyk. The auditor general says that provincial government... Read More
The Alberta and federal governments have decided to reopen the 2023 AgriStability program to help producers affected by drought and wildfires since the original April 30 enrolment deadline. Farmers and ranchers can now sign up for AgriStability through Alberta's Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) until September 29. “Our government has listened to farmers and ranchers... Read More
Every year, Olds College of Agriculture and Technology announces a Partner of The Year award. This year, Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) is the recipient. The award was presented at AgSmart held at Olds, Alta., earlier this week. The award recognizes the successful joint initiatives undertaken by AFSC and Olds College. Notable projects include initiatives... Read More