U.S. seen unlikely to hit advanced biofuel goal

The United States will likely fail to reach its long-term mandate for making advanced ethanol from trees, grasses and crop waste unless producers innovate significantly, a scientific advisory group said last week. The National Research Council's comments are the latest sign that backers of alternative fuels must wait longer for "next-generation" ethanol. Touted as the[...]

Klassen: Fed cattle lead feeders higher

The weaker Canadian dollar, along with stronger beef prices and lower market-ready supplies, caused fed cattle to jump $4 per hundredweight (cwt) last week. Alberta packers paid up to $111/cwt in a struggle to fill nearby demand. Feeder cattle prices followed suit, edging up $2-$3/cwt on average, with lighter-weight cattle up as much as $5/cwt[...]

Regina to host new pulse, durum processing plant

An expansion-minded inertnational pulse packing and export firm has pledged up to $50 million for a new Saskatchewan plant to process pulse crops for flours and food ingredients and durum into semolina for pasta. Alliance Grain Traders (AGT) on Friday announced construction work on the plant is to begin in 2012 in the Global Transportation[...]


Boston Pizza drafts smaller stores for smaller markets

One of Canada's biggest casual restaurant brands is warming up expansion plans for smaller cities and rural communities with the launch of a smaller-store prototype. Boston Pizza International's new smaller-scale store design, at about 4,100 square feet, is expected to make it "more affordable than ever to own a Boston Pizza franchise," the company said[...]

Sask. won’t ban canola from fields with clubroot

Saskatchewan will not force its first two farms infested with clubroot disease to stop growing canola for a number of years, as some Alberta municipalities have done, a provincial official said Wednesday. Two farmers in north-central Saskatchewan found symptoms of clubroot, which cuts crop yields, on their plants this autumn. The government in Saskatchewan, Canada's[...]