May Member Profile – Nathan and Wendy Burns HERE
Local, Regional, Canadian News
P.E.I. beef company showing some burger love to food banks
P.E.I. company hoping to donate 1,133 kilograms of beef MORE
New Business hopes to connect food producers and consumers
Two Island men have created an online business with hopes of connecting Island producers and consumers, putting fresh products at Islanders’ fingertips. MORE
Buzzkill: $200,000 worth of bees stolen from Quebec beekeeper
Quebec beekeeper Jean-Marc Labonte said on Thursday that he’s in a sticky situation after thieves buzzed off with about five million of his bees. MORE
Canada’s dairy industry evolving
Canada’s dairy farmers are benefiting from growing demand for various specialty products, but will have to continue to modernize and innovate to remain competitive, according to J.P. Gervais, Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) chief agricultural economist. MORE
Farmers pressured by new limitations on foreign workers
Despite a 7.1 per cent unemployment rate, Canadian farmers feel the squeeze finding workers for manual labour in the agricultural sector. The Liberal government may delay implementing new restrictions July 1 when low-skilled foreign workers can account for no more than 10 per cent of an employer’s work force. MORE
URGENT: More temporary foreign workers needed
Beef producers and packers may not always see eye to eye, but on two things they definitely agree — there’s a critical and chronic labour shortage at farms, ranches, feedlots and packing plants across the country and this issue needs a quick fix. Not a Band-Aid-style quick fix, but a well-thought-out strategy put into action — yesterday. MORE
Which Canadian agricultural companies stand to reap big rewards from the TPP trade deal
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is expected to bring some big trade benefits for certain sectors in Canada if ratified, and some of those benefits have the potential to translate to stock gains for investors. MORE
Livestock
Poultry at risk for avian flu during migration
Cases of H1N1 flu also appear in Canadian commercial flocks MORE
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle close higher, but off highs
Feeder cattle finish mostly firm; hogs up for third straight day MORE
CME: Significant Pork Supply Increase
Competition for the “grilling dollar” will be tougher this year given the significant increase in supplies of all three main proteins, write Steve Meyer and Len Steiner. MORE
Brazil Looks to China to Expand Pork Business
The Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA), in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), is promoting a major initiative with Chinese market importers at the start of May in Shanghai. MORE
West’s hog farmers urged to insist trailers cleaned in Canada
Hog industry officials in Western Canada want hog producers to insist that livestock trailers coming to their farms be washed at certified Canadian cleaning facilities — even if the trailers were just cleaned on the U.S. side of the border. MORE
Have we gone overboard in the bid to get more marbling?
More beef is grading AAA or Prime, but lean meat has fallen dramatically – and that’s not right, says expert MORE
Clearing the air on livestock GHGs
A cloud of misinformation continues to fog public perceptions of the role of livestock in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but University of California, Davis, professor and air-quality specialist Frank Mitloehner, Ph.D., is working to clarify the issue. MORE
Atlantic Stockyards Weekly Market Report – April 28 HERE
*Scroll down the page to find the report
Ontario Cattlemen’s Association Market Report – Friday, Apri1 29 HERE
Potatoes
UPGC – April Newsletter HERE
Economic study shows irrigation pays big dividends
Irrigation adds about $3.6 billion to the provincial (Alberta) economy each year and has the potential to do even more MORE
Late blight management technology project underway
The Ontario Potato Board and Dr. Eugenia Banks are collaborating on a two-year project to evaluate late blight management technologies new to Ontario. MORE
Potato Breeding Update From Cornell University
Walter De Jong, Associate Professor at Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Plant Breeding and Genetics Section, has been researching potatoes at Cornell for more than 15 years. Potatoes have been bred at Cornell for at least 50 years, De Jong says, and 70% of the university’s breeding efforts are focused on developing new chip varieties, while 30% is dedicated to various fresh market classes. MORE
AAFC / InfoHort Potato Reports HERE
USDA – Daily National Potato and Onion Report HERE
Crops
North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola settles higher
ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were stronger on Friday, boosted by fund buying once again as the futures flirted with upside resistance. MORE
ICE Futures Canada Friday: Canola futures prices higher, barley unchanged HERE
Seeding underway in southern Alberta
Alberta farmers are in the early stages of seeding this year’s crop, with operations expected to become more widespread over the next few weeks. “Southern Alberta is the most advanced, and (farmers) have been plugging away for as long as two weeks in some areas,” said Mark Cutts, a crop specialist with the provincial Ag-Info Centre. MORE
A new look at 30-inch rows for soybeans
If you think the case is closed on 30-inch rows, get ready to think again MORE
Grain Farmers of Ontario – Daily Commodity Report HERE
More Futures Prices HERE and HERE
General Interest
Alberta author profiles the unsung heroes of the family farm — farmwives
City slicker’ Billi Miller never expected to be a farmwife. “I wasn’t raised on a farm — my background was very different from the tradition and stability that existed here,” said Miller, an ex-government worker who now operates a fourth-generation farm near Lloydminster with her husband and two daughters. MORE
Group wants Quebec to lead on GM labelling
A Quebec group opposed to genetic modification wants the province to follow in the footsteps of its neighbour to the south. Vigilance OGM has launched a campaign for a mandatory labellling law similar to the one that will go into effect in Vermont on July 1, 2016. Vermont is the first jurisdiction in North America to adopt such a law. MORE
Food fads: what will be next?
The gluten-free fad is fading, but bakers and millers must keep their eyes peeled for the next trend, says Canada Bread’s Connie Morrison. Even if fads fade, new ones arise and breadmakers need to be ready with products to meet consumer demands. MORE
Regular Updates
PEIDAF E-Letter – April 29 HERE
FCC Express – April 29 HERE
AgWeather Atlantic HERE
Today’s Local Weather – HERE
Meetings and Events
2 Day Standard First Aid and CPR Courses
(Membership discounted rate of $70)
May Dates: May 7th-8th– Stratford May 11th-12th– Stratford
May 16th-17th– Summerside May 24th-25th– Stratford
*First aid and CPR course are also available at your farm for a minimum of 8 participants. Please contact Charlotte at 902-368-7289 for more details.
