RFP TO PROVIDE FARMER RECORD-KEEPING/PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS TRAINING . . . DWARF CITRUS TREE BUSINESS GROWING IN PICTOU COUNTY . . . NEW LABELS PROMOTE LOCAL WOOD PRODUCTS . . . COMMITTEE PROVIDING ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT . . . CONSUMERS WANT SUSTAINABLE BEEF, BUT DEFINING THAT MAY BE MURKY . . .   
OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

RFP TO PROVIDE FARMER RECORD-KEEPING/PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS TRAINING
Source: PEI COPC
The PEI COPC is currently seeking Requests for Proposals to provide farmer training on: Small farm recordkeeping, data management, and profitability analysis. Among one group of PEI COPC members, namely market gardeners and new small farm entrants, there is felt to be insufficient capacity for accurate financial record keeping and profitability analysis. This is not uncommon amongst new entrants in highly diversified agriculture. (read more)

DWARF CITRUS TREE BUSINESS GROWING IN PICTOU COUNTY
Source: The Chronicle Herald
Nothing unusual about a farm with a sign at the end of the lane advertising asparagus, or raspberrie, or even, here at the edge of Pictou County, oatcakes. But the biggest image on the Carlson Family Farm sign is of a lemon tree. Anita Carlson started selling three kinds of citrus trees in August, at the Tatamagouche market and the historic Halifax market, for people to keep outside in the summer and inside in the winter. (read more)

NEW LABELS PROMOTE LOCAL WOOD PRODUCTS
Source: Farm Focus
Annapolis Home Hardware Building Centre, Mary Lake Home Hardware, Select Nova Scotia, and Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI) recently teamed up to label various local products. Customers at Mary Lake Home Hardware in Caledonia and Annapolis Home Hardware Building Centre can now easily spot a variety of Nova Scotian forest products. Picnic tables, lumber, roof trusses, wood pellets, sawdust, fiber fuel, and firewood are a few examples of local products that are now being labeled with special signs. (read more)

COMMITTEE PROVIDING ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT
Source: N.S. Dept of Fisheries and Aquaculture
A recently formed committee of community, First Nations, industry, and municipal government representatives is providing advice on regulating aquaculture in Nova Scotia. The 13-member advisory committee met with Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Colwell three times this summer to offer feedback on regulating aquaculture development in Nova Scotia. (read more)

CONSUMERS WANT SUSTAINABLE BEEF, BUT DEFINING THAT MAY BE MURKY
Source: AGCanada.com
McDonald’s plans on using sustainable beef by 2016, and intends on sourcing at least part of it from Canadian producers. The fast food giant’s latest step toward sustainability is to define what exactly that means. Defining sustainability is important, according to a beef brand officer, because in some cases it’s something consumers want – in increasing amounts – though they don’t necessarily know what it is. Beef consumers are moving away from traditional definitions when it comes to defining quality, industry experts say. (read more)