As part of McDonald’s 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability Framework, the company has commited to begin purchasing a portion of verified sustainable beef in 2016. Using principles and criteria approved by the Global and Canadian Roundtables for Sustainable Beef, the company is currently recruiting for the pilot project. “When you look at consumer data,... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Have you ever heard someone say that today's business environment is "the new normal"? There is no such thing as the new normal. Most times the "old normal" is the reality in the long run. Remember when corn was $7.50 and canola was $15 and it was a "new normal" in the markets? We've recently... Read More
Testing for clubroot falls into an interesting classification — it's a disease, yes, but it's in soil. Do you send samples to a soil lab or a seed lab? In this edition of Under the Microscope, Holly Gelech, business development manager with Biovision Seed Labs, walks us through how labs test for clubroot and while... Read More
The federal agriculture minister, seed industry officials and representatives from various crop sector and farmer organizations celebrated the passage of Bill C-18 — the Agricultural Growth Act — at the head office of Canterra Seeds in Winnipeg on Friday. The legislation, which includes the implementation of the UPOV ’91 standard for plant breeders’ rights and... Read More
The recent case of a BSE-positive cow found in Alberta has been traced back to a birth farm that produced another positive BSE case in 2010. In the case of that cow, the 17th detected in Canada, the animal was born in 2004, three years before the enhanced feed ban came into effect. The Canadian... Read More
Grain prices ended the month of February a little mixed as corn, soybean, and canola prices all got support in the last half of the month through harvest and logistical concerns out of South American. Lower oil prices have helped keep gains in check for those crops related to the biofuels industry, although strong domestic... Read More
Many farmers will be familiar with vDrive, a technology that allows each planter to be controlled and monitored independently. The result, powered by a 12-volt motor, is variable rate planting, that accounts for real-time changes in speed (including around corners). On January 21 of this year, Precision Planting announced the same technology would be used... Read More
From the Agricultural Growth Act receiving Royal Assent to new questions surrounding the strange case of missing quarantined heritage sheep in Ontario, there's plenty to discuss in this week's ag news recap. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, meteorologist Drew Lerner, McGill University's Joe Schwarcz, Dave Solverson of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association and others make it into... Read More
The Barley Council of Canada has announced the hiring of a new executive director. Phil de Kemp, who also serves as the president of the Malting Industry Association of Canada, will take on the role beginning March 1st. De Kemp previously worked for Cargill and the federal government, including time as the senior policy advisor... Read More
Acres that were penciled in for wheat back in December might get switched to canola in spring, depending on how much weight farmers put into the price relationship between wheat and canola, says the vice-president for oilseeds with Louis Dreyfus Commodities. Brian Conn says back in November and December, they were expecting a decline in... Read More