Shippers squabble over grain transportation issues

It was a unified message that resulted in shipper-friendly legislation now under consideration. 
Now that unity appears threatened

Infighting is at risk of derailing a grand coalition of shippers that resulted in a shipper-friendly transportation modernization bill known as C-49. While seven industry associations have stuck to script and asked Transport Minister Marc Garneau to make two key amendments to the government’s transportation modernization bill, those proposals were overshadowed by shots at the

CanoLAB and SoyLAB attendees get a crash course 
in weed identification in Dauphin March 15.

CanoLAB adds soybeans to the agenda

The two-day event hoped to get a better idea on managing canola 
and soybeans for growers who increasingly want to grow both

Growers were looking for more than just canola knowledge from CanoLAB this year. Soybeans also stole the show. Put on annually by canola commodity groups, CanoLAB is usually a major stop for everything from canola fertilization and weed control to disease pressures and beneficial insects. This was the first year, however, that the Manitoba Pulse


Mature winter wheat. (Allan Dawson photo)

U.S. grains: Wheat hits two-month low

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures dipped to two-month lows on Wednesday as improving weather for developing crops in the drought-hit southern Plains put the focus back on ample world supplies, traders said. Corn and soybean futures closed lower after a choppy session as traders squared positions a day ahead of key U.S. planting



A freight train at Manchac, La., about 75 km east of Baton Rouge. (CN.ca)

Canadian railways in catch-22 over crude shipment

Reuters — Canadian railway operators see a lucrative opportunity to transport more crude oil to the U.S. as a rise in output forces producers to find new routes to its southern neighbour. However, their need for long-term contracts and the pressure to move a surplus of grains in the country is making it hard to



Bill C-49: Helping the railways farm the farmers

This legislation is flawed and will deregulate railways by stealth

Here we go again! Some Prairie farmers cannot ship their grain. Grain companies and their friends are blaming the railways for not getting the grain to port. After months of railway lobbying, the federal government is pushing new transportation legislation, claiming Bill C-49 will punish the railways for neglecting grain shipments. Yet this legislation effectively

Canadian canary seed producers have new options for their crop.

Canary seed sees human opportunities

From food to cosmetics, approval for human use is important for this crop

Canary seed isn’t just for the birds anymore. It was approved for human consumption by Health Canada in 2016 and while few are feasting on it yet, it represents a market opportunity for Canadian growers, who produce 65 per cent of global canary seed. Elsayed Abdelaal, of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)’s Guelph Research and



Andre Corbould (centre), shown here briefing then-Governor General Michaelle Jean (r) in Whistler, B.C. during the 2010 Olympics, is Alberta’s new deputy agriculture minister. (GG.ca)

Alberta names new deputy ag minister

Alberta’s deputy provincial environment minister, a civil engineer and 28-year veteran of the Canadian Forces, has been named the province’s new top agriculture bureaucrat. Premier Rachel Notley on Tuesday put through an order in council appointing Andre Corbould as Alberta’s deputy minister of agriculture and forestry effective Wednesday, replacing Beverly Yee. Corbould, the province’s deputy