Western grain system humming so far this crop year

Canada’s grain-handling and transportation system performed above average during the first 13 weeks of the new crop year, but it’s too soon to tell if there’s a connection with ending of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly, according to Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corporation, the firm hired by the federal government to monitor system performance.



Farmers complain about problems delivering grain to CWB

CWB vice-president of grain procurement Gord Flaten says it’s mostly just growing pains and the system will work

Some grain handlers are refusing to accept CWB grain deliveries and promising better grades to farmers who bypass the new voluntary board, farmers said during a recent conference call with CWB officials Oct. 17. During the conference-call meeting with more than 3,200 farmers, an Alberta producer (who identified himself only as John) said elevator employees

EU may extend zero import duties

Reuters / The European Union’s cereals management committee will vote Nov. 8 on whether to extend the suspension of the bloc’s import duties on feed wheat and barley until the end of June 2013, a draft regulation showed. In June, the European Union suspended its import duties of 12 euros per tonne for low- and


Barley genome breakthrough may lead to better beer

London/Reuters – An international consortium of scientists has published a high resolution draft of the barley genome in a move that could not only improve yields and disease resistance, but may also hold the key to better beer. “This research will streamline efforts to improve barley production through breeding for improved varieties,” said Prof. Robbie



Barley organizations get federal funds

MP Steven Fletcher, on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, has announced funding of more than $525,000 to the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre, the Malting Industry Association of Canada, and the Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute to develop a Canadian malt barley brand. A government release said funds will be used for product

Dedicated farm advocate Bob Douglas passes

Bob Douglas, one of Manitoba’s pre-eminent farm champions, died Oct. 6 at the age of 80. “I think Bob is one of those unsung heroes that farmers just heard his name but didn’t know what he committed to them,” Earl Geddes, a former Keystone Agricultural Producers’ president, said in an interview Monday. “I’ve got nothing


Hot, dry weather takes its toll on canola crop

Hot, dry weather took a larger toll on the Canadian canola crop than many industry participants expected. The latest Statistics Canada survey pegs canola production at 13.4 million tonnes, a two-million-tonne drop from its previous forecast and well below the 14.5 million tonnes grown in 2011-12. Although one Winnipeg-based broker said “the number was unexpected

OUR HISTORY: October 3, 1974

The 1974 harvest was one best forgotten. Our Oct. 3 issue reported that grain dryers were sold out across Western Canada, with one company having sold 50 after not selling a single one since 1969. The Oct. 1 crop report said snow had fallen across much of the northern part of Manitoba’s agricultural area, further