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(Fertilizer Safety and Security Council)
Crops

Fertilizer spill halts water use from Alta. river

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Officials are urging users of water from southern Alberta’s Little Bow River and Travers Reservoir to shut down those uses until further notice, following a farm fertilizer spill. The province’s environment department said about 9,800 litres of liquid urea ammonium nitrate were “accidentally released” Wednesday from a container on private land in Vulcan County, northeast […] Read more
Canada’s agriculture ministers pose for their annual family photo in Charlottetown. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada photo)
Livestock, Markets

Trade ‘balancing act’ in focus at ag ministers’ meeting

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With foreign governments urging Canada to open up its protected dairy, poultry and egg markets, the country’s provincial agriculture ministers are unanimously counter-urging in supply management’s defense. Pressure from trading partners and strong regional support in principle for supply management are nothing new. But Canada’s annual ag ministers’ meeting, held this week in Charlottetown, wrapped […] Read more
Crops

Sask. grain handler cancels share buyback in dry spell

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An independent grain terminal in parched northwestern Saskatchewan has called off a planned share repurchase, to conserve cash against a possible drop in its grain handle. North West Terminal, which operates a grain terminal and ethanol plant just east of Unity, about 90 km southwest of North Battleford, said Thursday it won’t go ahead with […] Read more
Prairies should see rain this week, except where needed most
Crops

Prairies should see rain this week, except where needed most

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CNS Canada –– Most of the Prairies are expected to get well-timed rain that will maximize growing potential, except for where it’s needed most, according to a U.S. weather specialist. Saskatchewan Drew Lerner, president at World Weather Inc., based near Kansas City, said the driest areas in southwestern Saskatchewan will not get rain. “That region […] Read more
(Dave Bedard photo)
Crops

FCC to offer breaks on loans in Sask., Alta.

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Customers of Farm Credit Canada in parched areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan may be able to get breaks on their outstanding loan payments. FCC on Monday announced it would work with affected customers on “solutions for their operation(s)” such as deferral of principal payments and/or otherwise amending their loan payment schedules. The offer applies to […] Read more
Crops, Markets

Manitoba buckwheat in need of higher temperatures

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CNS Canada — Manitoba’s buckwheat crops are off to a good start, little affected by storms, but now the crops need heat. According to Rejean Picard, a provincial farm production extension advisor at Somerset, Man., the crops started off strong, as June’s weather provided good establishing conditions. The same can’t be said for July, however. […] Read more
The red-belted bumblebee, shown here visiting a lupine, is among the species shown to be “responding very badly” to climate changes across continents. (Jeremy Kerr photo)
Livestock

Study of bumblebee decline points to climate ‘vise’

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A study of the shrinking range of bumblebee habitat suggests farmers relying on those species to pollinate crops may soon have to look elsewhere, barring a reversal of climate change — or, perhaps, an “assisted migration.” An international study of specimens from 31 species of bumblebees in North America and 36 such species in Europe, as […] Read more
Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature anomalies for week centred on July 1. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)
Crops

U.S. forecaster sees El Nino likely into N. Hemisphere spring

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New York | Reuters — A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday warned that much-watched El Nino conditions are likely to last another nine months, potentially roiling global crops and commodities prices. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center projected a more than 90 per cent chance that El Nino would continue through this winter […] Read more
(Dave Bedard photo)
Crops, Markets

PotashCorp not planning to increase K+S bid

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Reuters — Canada’s PotashCorp does not plan to sweeten its bid for German rival K+S AG, several people familiar with the Canadian mineral miner said, downplaying a media report that it would consider such a move. The proposed bid of 41 euros (C$58) per share already represented an unusually high premium and should not be […] Read more

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