News : Farm News
U.S. to reopen cattle trade despite new possible BSE case 12.30.2004
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed yesterday that on January 4, 2005, it will publish its new 500-plus-page rule recognizing Canada as a "minimal-risk" country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), thus allowing the rule to take effect as soon as March 7, 2005. The rule will make Canada eligible to export live cattle under the age of 30 months, subject to restrictions meant to ensure said animals are slaughtered by the time they reach 30 months of age. These will include permanent marking of these animals as to their origin, requiring them to move in sealed containers to feedlots or to slaughter, and not allowing them to move to more than one feedlot while in the U.S. The rule also will outline conditions by which Canadian sheep, goats, cervids, camelids, meat and other products from such animals can be imported into the U.S.
The night of USDA's announcement, Canadian officials received test results suggesting the discovery of another case of BSE, this time in a 10-year-old downer dairy cow that was tested as part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's surveillance program. CFIA officials said definitive results would follow within the next 3 to 5 days, and assured that no part of the suspect animal reached the food supply.
For their part, USDA officials said the CFIA announcement "would not alter the implementation" of its new rule. "In the extensive risk analysis conducted as part of the rule making, we considered the possibility of additional cases of BSE in Canada," said Ron DeHaven, administrator of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in a prepared statement earlier today. "Because of the mitigation measures Canada has in place, we continue to believe the risk is minimal."
Incumbents returned in CWB election 12.30.2004
With a ballot response rate of just under 33%, prairie farmers have returned 4 incumbents to the boardroom table in the farmer-director elections for the Canadian Wheat Board. Well-known dissident director Jim Chatenay of Red Deer, Alta., had already been returned by acclamation in District 2. Board chairman and District 4 director Ken Ritter of Kindersley, Sask., and District 6 director Ian McCreary of Bladworth, Sask., were returned on the first ballot. Rod Flaman of Edenwold, Sask., who drew fire from open-market supporters both within and outside his District 8 after publicly reversing his stance and endorsing the single-desk marketing system, was also re-elected to the Board on the fourth ballot. In District 10, farmer Bill Toews of Kane, Man., was elected on the first ballot, replacing retiring director Butch Harder.
Ten of the CWB's 15 directors are elected by farmers using a mail-in preferential voting system, in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. The new directors officially take office tomorrow (Dec. 31) to serve terms of 4 years, although the election process and, possibly, the election itself may soon be subject to a judicial review. Candidate Art Mainil of Weyburn, Sask., claiming several hundred farmers were left off the voters' list in error, had applied for but was denied an injunction to halt the election and start over. According to published reports, however, the Federal Court ruling denying the injunction does not prevent Mainil from applying for a review.
Injunction dismissed, CWB vote count goes ahead 12.23.2004
Counting of votes in the Canadian Wheat Board's director elections will go ahead on Wednesday, December 29 after the Federal Court trial division dismissed an injunction application by one of the candidates. Art Mainil of Weyburn, Sask., running in District 8, had asked for an injunction to halt the counting of ballots and order a new election, claiming 1,000 farmers were left off the voting list in error. Results from the election are to be announced "as soon as possible after they are known", according to election co-ordinator Meyers Norris Penny, and the elected directors will take office Dec. 31. The results will be posted online at www.cwbelection.com.
Sask. tops up 2003 CAIS funding 12.22.2004
Saskatchewan's provincial government today announced it would fund its full 40% share of the 2003 federal/provincial Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program (CAIS), boosting its previous commitment of just $99 million by a one-time increase of $110 million, for a total of $209 million.
"We believe that fully funding the CAIS program, despite our ongoing concern about the federal-provincial cost-sharing formula for business risk management programs, was the best thing we could do to alleviate the hardship being felt by our producers and their families," Premier Lorne Calvert said in a release.
The province had previously announced it would cap its funding of CAIS for 2003 at $99 million, at which time the opposition Saskatchewan Party accused the NDP government of reneging on its commitment. With today's announcement, made in view of a better financial picture for the province, the opposition says the NDP should have kept its commitment in the first place rather than "dragging producers through months of unnecessary stress and anxiety".
Provincial ag minister Mark Wartman says the province is working with federal CAIS administrators to get cash into farmers' hands "as soon as possible" and that changing the cost-sharing formula for CAIS will be one of his main priorities in 2005.
B.C. offers leeway on farmland assessments 12.09.2004
Amendments to the regulations on farm classification will give farmers more latitude in how their property is assessed, according to British Columbia's provincial government, which announced the amendments yesterday. Among the changes: unproductive land that is part of a farm parcel but is not actively farmed will, in most cases, keep its farm classification. Cabinet will be able to temporarily waive production and income requirements for any commodities affected by natural, market or industry disasters including drought and disease. The requirement for annual sales of grains, oilseeds and pulses will be waived as long as the annual production would otherwise have a sales value that meets the threshold for farm classification, and the product is sold in subsequent years. Farmers who missed reporting deadlines can now appeal their loss of farm classification to the Property Assessment Review Panels process. The province says its amendments will also ensure that farmers who lease in the ag land reserve will be treated the same as farmers who operate on their own land.
N.S. puts up $9M for cattle, hog farmers 12.03.2004
Nova Scotia's provincial government will put another $9 million into programs to support the province's cattle, sheep, goat and hog producers. The programs include the Nova Scotia Ruminant Income Support Program, which will make over $8 million in payments to producers based on numbers of eligible beef and dairy cattle, sheep and goats. Another $500,000 is earmarked to "assist an industry-led strategy that supports the long-term sustainability of the province's livestock sector". The third component involves $300,000 to cover the accrued interest on the first 2 years of the province's hog loan program.
Drought zones named for '04 tax deferral 11.26.2004
The Canada Revenue Agency has started to designate drought zones, where ranchers can defer taxes on 2004 income from breeding stock sales made due to drought. Initial designations include the Fort Nelson-Liard Regional District in the northeastern corner of B.C., and the Municipal Districts of Clear Hills, MacKenzie and Northern Lights, all in the northwestern corner of Alberta.
If you farm in one of those areas and had to reduce your breeding herd by at least 15%, you can defer 30% of income from net sales. If you had to reduce your herd by 30% or more, you can defer 90% of income from net sales. This deferral allows you to defer income tax on the sale of these animals for a year. If the area is designated for more than one year in a row, you can defer sales income to the first year in which the area is not designated. You'll need to request this deferral when you file your income tax return for 2004. Call your local CRA office for more details.
Alberta names new ag minister 11.24.2004
Coming off the Nov. 22 provincial election with a reduced but still substantial majority government, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has shuffled several of the chairs at the cabinet table and placed the agriculture, food and rural development portfolio in the hands of Doug Horner, the MLA for Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert.
Horner, an MLA since 2001, lists positions in the banking and ag processing industries on his resume. He's also the son of Hugh Horner, who served as Peter Lougheed's deputy premier during the 1970s.
Horner replaces Shirley McClellan, who as ag minister was the Klein administration's point person during the BSE crisis. She keeps her previous post as deputy premier and now also becomes finance minister, a portfolio which will now include responsibility for the former provincial revenue department. The new cabinet will be sworn in November 25 in Edmonton.
BSE rule moves ahead 11.22.2004
Federal Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell announced Saturday that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has completed the drafting of its rule to allow resumption of trade of live cattle and ruminants, and that the rule has been forwarded to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. The OMB's review of proposed rules normally takes up to 90 days, but can take less, Mitchell noted. Once the review is completed and the rule published in the U.S. Federal Register, it can come into effect after a 60-day period.
News reports Sunday said U.S. President George Bush has offered to put the full weight of his administration behind the rule, submitting a request to the OMB that the rule go ahead. Mitchell characterized USDA's move as a "tangible sign that things are progressing".
While few expect the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to shoot down the USDA's rule, some observers fear yet another snag: the recent discovery of a suspected case of BSE in another animal in the U.S. If, however, this animal is found to be from Canada (as was the only other case of BSE found in the U.S. last December), Ag Canada spokesmen told reporters that the USDA rule is based on Canada's risk level as a country, not on the number of cases, and that the science would still support an open border.
Sheep ID program expanded 11.01.2004
As of November 1 the Canadian Sheep Identification Program allows producers to tag their animals with either Allflex or Ketchum tags. The Allflex dangle and RFID tags are available from the Canadian Cooperative Wool Growers. Only Quebec dictates the choice of tag. As of January 1, 2005, all sheep and lambs entering Quebec will need to be tagged with an Allflex RFID tag and either the Allflex dangle tag or the Ketchum Kurl-Lock tags.
Saskatchewan offers choice of set aside date 11.01.2004
Saskatchewan is the first province to allow cattle producers to choose a release date for the Feeder Cattle Set-Aside Program. The province is responding to a request from the BSE Industry Advisory Committee which urged the province to work with the federal government to provide producers with an October 1st, 2005 set-aside option in addition to the
January 1st, 2006 date announced earlier. Saskatchewan producers can opt for $160 payment by holding beef calves back from the market until October 1, 2005 or $200 on January 1, 2006.
