According to Statistics Canada’s (StatsCan) March 2024 Economic and Social Reports, a simple headcount of Temporary Foreign Worker Program participants may be misleading when determining labour contributions. The report, which delves into the labour force engagement of temporary residents with paid employment in 2019, reveals that despite being an important supply of labour, many temporary…
The Government of Alberta is announcing changes to the pathway for Class 1 commercial drivers, and offering a new, farm-restricted Class 1 driver’s license Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) became a pre-licensing requirement for Class 1 commercial drivers in Alberta in 2019. Since then, MELT has been identified by the trucking industry as one of…
The NRCB recognizes that many areas of the province are dealing with drought conditions. If these conditions continue into the 2024 growing season, they could cause poor grass pastures, lack of water for livestock, lack of harvestable forage crops, and the summer confined feeding of cow-calf herds may be necessary. Under normal conditions, confined feeding…
The Canadian Angus Association will receive $3.8M to increase Canadian cattle producers’ ability to make data-driven decisions based on genomics to economically benefit their commercial livestock operations. The investment will be used to develop a genetic selection tool to equip producers with breeding data to select the best replacement heifers to improve their herds. Using…
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has announced that the interest-free limit of the Advance Payments Program has been set at $250,000 for the 2024 program year. This is the portion of advances on which the Government of Canada pays the interest on behalf of producers. Under the program, producers would normally receive the first $100,000 interest-free,…
Alberta is a global leader in agriculture research, which results in tangible benefits for farmers, like higher profits and a more abundant food supply at an affordable cost for consumers. To help further the development and continued innovation of agriculture research, the Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) has been relaunched as Western Crops Innovations (WCI),…
Two finalists from the 4-H Canada Science Fair — Mark Norregaard of Balzac, AB, and Nia Smith from Brandon, MB — have earned their way to the prestigious 2024 Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF). Following an initial virtual round in January 2024, the second round of the 4-H Canada Science Fair was hosted by Olds College…
The Alberta SPCA, in collaboration with the former Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC) Board of Directors is pleased to announce plans for the future of the AFAC ALERT Line. With the dissolution of AFAC underway, effective March 21, 2024 calls to the ALERT Line will be answered by the Alberta SPCA. “We are pleased to…
The average value of Canadian farmland continued its steady climb in 2023, increasing by 11.5 per cent, slightly less than the 12.8 per cent increase reported in 2022, according to the latest FCC Farmland Values Report. The highest average provincial increases in farmland values were observed in Saskatchewan, Quebec, Manitoba, and Ontario, with double-digit average increases…
The United States Department of Agriculture (UDSA) has officially changed its voluntary “Product of the USA” labeling regulations, as of March 11, 2024. The rule states that to qualify for the label meat must be derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the U.S. The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) says they are disappointed…
Clinics that help B.C. farmers and ranchers care for their animals will have extra sets of skilled hands in their offices through a new program that covers summer placement costs for both veterinary and veterinary technologist students. The $300,000 pilot program offers up to $6,000 per placement to help with wages and travel costs, and…
The Government of Canada has announced funding of up to $1,697,850 to Animal Health Canada to support their role in foreign animal disease prevention and preparedness efforts in Canada, including for African swine fever (ASF) and Food and Mouth Disease (FMD). Animal Health Canada brings together the agriculture industry, and federal, provincial, and territorial partners…