A mature wheat crop in southern Saskatchewan, on Sept. 2, 2018.

Year in review: Cereal royalty discussions expected to resume soon

Seed industry had hoped issue would be settled by now

Prairie farmers will be talking about cereal royalties again this year. When public discussions on collecting more royalties from farmers to help fund new cereal varieties started in November 2018 the federal government targeted the spring of 2019 to report on farmer feedback on the seed industry’s two proposed options. But farmer opposition to both



Many Manitoba farmers felt the pain of a hard season.

Manitoba farmers challenged by 2019 crop

The worst part was the ‘harvest from hell’, which for some still isn’t over

Too dry, too wet and then it snowed. Lots. That sums up Manitoba’s 2019 growing season, culminating with the “harvest from hell,” which for some farmers won’t end until spring. “I have often said it’s not a good sign when you’re harvesting and they’re playing Christmas carols on the radio,” Minto farmer and Keystone Agricultural


The Manitoba government is collecting data on the impact the federal carbon tax is having on grain drying in an effort to get an exemption from the tax, says Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pederson. Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has asked for the information so she can make the case to her cabinet colleagues.  Photo: Allan Dawson

Manitoba gathering data to press case for exempting grain drying from federal carbon tax

The Manitoba government is gathering data to make the case for exempting grain drying fuels from the federal government’s carbon tax. “So we’ll get the numbers together and then to (federal agriculture) Minister (Marie-Claude) Bibeau and we’ll continue to lobby on behalf of our ag producers,” Manitoba’s Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pederson said



(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Teamsters seek charges against CP to cap working hours

Montreal/Toronto | Reuters — A union is taking the unusual step of pursuing contempt of court charges against Canada’s second-largest railroad, in a previously unreported case that escalates the debate over working hours for railroad employees, according to two sources and legal documents. The Teamsters union argued in court filings that Canadian Pacific Railway should



Cover crops may buffer bad spring in 2020

Cover crops may buffer bad spring in 2020

This fall had little window for fall-seeded cover crops, but those who already have cover crops in the ground say it’s now their best insurance against a wet spring

Joe Gardiner of Clearwater has an insurance policy against a wet spring next year — and it has nothing to do with MASC. Gardiner is one of a growing number of Manitoba farmers to embrace cover crops, having started the practice several years ago in an effort to increase fall grazing. This year, he jumped

(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC lowers canola ending stocks forecast

MarketsFarm — Canadian canola ending stocks will be much tighter than earlier thought, according to updated supply/demand tables which were released late Thursday by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and account for the latest production numbers from Statistics Canada. AAFC’s projected canola ending stocks for 2019-20 were lowered to 3.5 million tonnes, which compares with the