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(Lethbridge, AB) April 6, 2021 – RealAgriculture is excited to announce the signing of a second three-year broadcast agreement for RealAg Radio on SiriusXM Rural Radio Channel 147.

Launched in the fall of 2016, RealAg Radio is Canada’s only daily national agricultural radio program. Hosted by Shaun Haney, the show features interviews and discussions covering current events, policy and regulatory topics, market moves, agronomy, and farm management — issues impacting farmers, livestock producers, and North American agriculture as a whole.

“It has been an extreme pleasure being apart of the Rural Radio 147 family since 2016 and we look forward to the opportunity to grow our presence on SiriusXM over the next three years,” says RealAgriculture founder Shaun Haney.

RealAg Radio is a one-hour show airing every weekday afternoon at 4:30 pm Eastern, as part of a block of North America’s best agriculture radio programs, including Ag PhD Radio, AgriTalk, Sharkfarmer Radio and Market Day Report. A replay of RealAg Radio can also be heard on Rural Radio every weekday morning at 7 am Eastern. The podcast version of the show can be found on RealAgriculture.com/radio, the Sirius XM app, in iTunes and other podcast apps.

“We’re excited to continue our relationship with Shaun Haney and the RealAg Radio team. The RealAg Radio program provides consistent insight into the agriculture industry, from both a Canadian and U.S. perspective, offering a unique program for the loyal listeners of Rural Radio 147 SXM.  The farmers and ranchers across North America will be delighted to hear that RealAg Radio will continue to be a part of their daily routine for years to come,” says Rick Patton, executive vice president of agriculture sales and marketing of RFD-TV, the Cowboy Channel, and Rural Radio 147.

This new agreement extends the last three-year deal, and is a key commitment to listeners and advertisers to continue to provide high-quality and engaging agricultural information and content for farmers across Canada and the United States.

With over 5 million active listeners in Canada, SiriusXM is a great option for people in rural areas to the best in audio content including RealAg Radio on Rural Radio 147.

For more information visit RealAgRadio.com.

About RealAgriculture:
RealAgriculture is focused on the issues that are impacting agriculture. Our site is focused on bringing you the opinions on the issues so that you not only get the news but the insight into what the news means to your business. Whether you are a farmer, employed in industry, or government we have content that is applicable to you and your business. Through our coverage, via articles, livestream, videos and podcasts, RealAgriculture is your source for what is happening in Canadian agriculture.

Rural Radio Channel 147 on SiriusXM:
Found exclusively on SiriusXM channel 147, this is the agribusiness and Western-lifestyle channel for the U.S. and Canada. Rural Radio’s program schedule revolves around original productions focused on agriculture, equine, hunting, fishing, Western sports, and living the country life in small towns and ranches. Broadcast operations for the station are located in Nashville, Tennessee. The channel airs multiple exclusive series including “Market Day Report,” “Rural Evening News,” “AgriTalk,” “Ag PhD Radio,” and “Western Sports RoundUp.” Rural Radio also carries live broadcasts of Western sports such as WPCA and PRCA rodeos every weekend. To get the full schedule visit ruralradio147.com.

Meat & Poultry Ontario is looking for a few more livestock producers in the southwest region of the province to participate in a pilot project.

The organization has been working diligently on assessing and evaluating livestock processing capacity, stumbling blocks, and opportunities from both the producer and processor perspective.

As part of the study, the group is launching a processing capacity matching pilot project and needs a few more producers to sign on in order to make the pilot a success.

“We’re calling it Hooks n’ Heads, as a nickname ” says Franco Naccarato, executive director of Meat & Poultry Ontario.

The project is borne out of an identified issue in the livestock processing space. Farmers and ranchers have expressed frustration with lack of hook space at abattoirs and long wait times. Processors, on the other hand, have expressed frustration over farmers showing up with fewer animals than they had committed to, which results in unused hook space, and no easy way to quickly fill those gaps.

Naccarato says that, for now, the pilot is being managed as an email-based service. Farmers and ranchers with market-ready animals can send an email to [email protected] and they’ll try their best to link them to an abattoir with processing space. The pilot, funded through a Canadian Agriculture Partnership grant, has already had success in matching farmers with space.

“We’re willing to explore all proteins (beef, lamb, pork, veal, and poultry),” he says, though finding poultry processing capacity is the toughest. Farmers and ranchers interested would need to be able to deliver animals within the southwest region, from Norfolk to Brantford, due to the participating abattoirs.

If the proof of concept goes well, Naccarato says the service — perhaps as an app or 1-800 service — would expand to the entire province.

Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals Inc.’s Chaplin, Sask., facility is set to receive an upgrade.

The company is moving forward with a $220 million upgrade to its sodium sulphate plant, expanding capacity to produce 150,000 metric tonnes of sulphate of potash (SOP) per year.

The combination of sodium sulphate with Saskatchewan-produced potash will produce high-value SOP fertilizer for domestic and international growers, says the company.

The decision, based on a favourable preliminary feasibility study conducted by the Saskatoon office of Wood Group, is approved by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment and will not require further environmental approvals. The province’s government’s conditional approval for funding for the upgrade through the Saskatchewan Chemical Fertilizer Incentive also played a major role in the decision to proceed.

The expansion into SOP production could mean immediate and long-term positive economic benefits for the town of Chaplin and for the province. Construction is expected to take up to two years, and is projected to take up to 700,000 labour hours.

“The Government of Saskatchewan has been engaged and highly supportive in their efforts to get behind SMMI, as it seems our project is directly aligned with their 10-year plan to create jobs, stimulate the economy, and to help build a strong economy and quality of life for Saskatchewan people.” says Rodney McCann, president of SMMI.

When complete, the addition of SOP production could result in an estimated 50 per cent increase in jobs at the Chaplin facility, on an ongoing basis.

Additionally, an agreement with Veolia Water Technologies means the production of SOP at this location will be up to 25 per cent more energy efficient than current technology.

“SMMI’s fertilizer production upgrade is an exciting move forward, with a dedication to sustainability. We are proud to partner with SMMI on this project and look forward to what’s to come,” says Jim Brown, CEO of Veolia Water Technologies Americas.

The University of Alberta (U of A) is set to receive major project funding and to partner up on developing a renewable jet fuel.

On behalf of the Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan Jr., the Honourable Jim Carr, Special Representative for the Prairies, announced a new project on Wednesday, into which the ministry will invest $2.89 million.

The investment will support the university’s Lipid-to-Hydrocarbon (LTH) technology, by developing pathways to generate renewable jet fuel, from a range of feedstocks, including waste materials from the restaurant and livestock industries.

“Investing in clean technology will lower emissions and increase our competitiveness. This is how we get to net zero by 2050,” says Minister O’Regan.

The University of Alberta, along with project partners Alberta Innovates, FORGE Hydrocarbons Inc., Western Economic Diversification Canada, Future Energy System, CanmetENERGY Decon, and Edmonton International Airport, will also provide $7.4 million.

“As the airline industry and Alberta recover from the pandemic, the Alberta Biojet Initiative at the University of Alberta will build on our historic strengths in energy research and position our province as a key supplier of low-emission fuel,” says Bill Flanagan, president and vice-chancellor of U of A. “This funding commitment from Natural Resources Canada will help drive innovation forward to the benefit of both the environment and economy. The U of A is proud to be part of this exciting venture.”

The project will be led by inventor Dr. David Bressler, professor at U of A, and the technology has the potential to reduce the aviation industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent, creating a solution that is safer and cleaner compared to traditional jet fuels primarily derived from oil.

In addition to the project, the commercial deployment of the technology, with multiple plants in Canada, will create jobs and other economic opportunities.

The project is funded through Natural Resources Canada’s Energy Innovation Program, which has also provided support for U of A to collaborate with CanmetENERGY’s laboratory in Devon, Alta., to develop methods and processes for converting distillate cuts from the LTH technology into biojet fuel.