Flax Council of Canada clarifies its transition

Flax Council of Canada clarifies its transition

The council will close its physical office Jan. 31 and the Manitoba 
Flax Growers Association, which shares the facility, is leaving it too

The Flax Council of Canada will continue operating with a part-time administrator after closing its office in downtown Winnipeg Jan. 31, council president Brian Johnson said in an interview Jan. 15. Meanwhile, the Manitoba Flax Growers Association, which shares that office in the old Grain Exchange Building, will also leave at the end of this

(Richardson Pioneer via YouTube)

Richardson won’t renew canola, flax, soy funding

One of Canada’s biggest grain companies is stepping out of three Canadian oilseed industry organizations — and taking its funding when it goes. Winnipeg-based, privately-held Richardson International has announced it will not provide funding in 2018 for the Canola Council of Canada and the Flax Council of Canada, nor will it renew its funding commitment


Hairy vetch blooms mingle with hemp plants in WADO’s hemp-legume intercrop trials this year.

Mixing and matching intercrops with WADO

Results are in on last year's Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization’s intercrop trials

Dry conditions and roving deer added extra challenge to intercropping in southwest Manitoba, but Melita’s Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization (WADO) still gleaned results this past season. Intercropping, also known as companion cropping, is an emerging practice in general. Farmers are drawn to it for potential overyielding, disease or weed management or increased water use in

Flax Council of Canada agronomist Rachel Evans, shown here at left at a test plot site near Melita, Man. in July 2017, was the council’s most recent hire. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Alexis Stockford)

Flax Council of Canada to shut office

The national promotional agency for Canada’s flax industry plans to move forward without a bricks-and-mortar office starting next month. The Flax Council of Canada announced Monday its downtown Winnipeg office, which it shares with the Manitoba Flax Growers Association, will close effective Jan. 31. Going forward, the council said it will “continue to operate on


Young Maize Corn Crops Leaves in Field

Commodity groups release merger report

The next step is garnering enough support amongst the rank-and-file members

Five Manitoba crop commodity groups have released a report detailing their plan to create one overarching association. The Dec. 14 report is full of details on how they will form one association by Aug. 1, 2019 — if members approve it at their annual meetings in February 2019. But right now the Manitoba Wheat and

Canadian Grain Commission grain inspection experts Chris Fleury (seen here) and Usman Mohammad spoke about ways the CGC can help farmers know the quality of their grain before they start selling it during a grain-grading school Dec. 7 in Brandon.

When selling your grain, knowledge is power

Canadian Grain Commission experts shared their insights at a ‘grading school’ in Brandon

When selling grain ‘forewarned is forearmed,” and the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) can help farmers with that. “We really encourage you to know what you have before you start delivering so you know if you’re getting a fair deal there (at the elevator) or not,” Chris Fleury, a CGC inspection trainer told farmers attending a


A lygus bug prepares to wreak havoc on a canola plant.

Manitoba crop insects seen in 2017

Manitoba Agriculture entomologist offers his yearly summary of bugs

From aphids to wheat midge, a wide variety of insects made their presence known in Manitoba crops in 2017. John Gavloski, entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture, has compiled a summary entitled ‘Summary of Insects on Crops in Manitoba in 2017‘ of the insects observed in fields across the province. Much of the crop insects identified in

Editorial: Rotation, rotation and rotation

In the early 1980s, the wheat board developed an idea called the Market Assurance Plan (MAP). That was back when there were perennial transport bottlenecks and the whole crop could sometimes not move by the end of the crop year. Even if it could move in total, it could be feast or famine for supply


(File photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Canola stocks look less tight in StatsCan report

CNS Canada — Canadian farmers grew a record amount of canola in 2017, despite weather concerns, according to updated production estimates on Wednesday from Statistics Canada. The agency pegged production in 2017-18 at 21.3 million tonnes, up from the September estimate of 19.7 million and last year’s total of 19.6 million. The rise in production

Canola south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 3, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

Larger crops expected in StatsCan report

CNS Canada — Canada’s canola and wheat production likely ended up larger than earlier expectations, but just how much more remains to be seen, as industry participants await the Statistics Canada production report due out Wednesday. “The finish seemed to be better than what the weather looked like earlier in the year,” said Neil Townsend