Producer car orders for next crop year are on hold until the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) launches its new online application process, expected soon, says CGC spokesman Remi Gosselin. “If producers have already submitted an application for producer cars for the crop year 2014-15 they will resubmit their application when we begin accepting them through
Producer car orders on hold for 2014-15
The new program will make producer car ordering seamless between crop years
New insights into Canadian Wheat Board orderly marketing
Markets work best when unfettered and there is competition
I have a new understanding of the term “orderly marketing.” I once thought of it simply as the approach the now defunct single-desk Canadian Wheat Board took to selling western Canadian wheat and barley. You know — pricing to market, not flooding markets to avoid driving prices down and providing equitable delivery opportunity for farmers.
Winter returns to parts of Manitoba
Last Saturday was a very snowy affair
Spring was in the air. Temperatures in south-central Manitoba hit almost 20 C April 9, leaving fields bare. And while there were still snowbanks in the bush and along shelterbelts farmers were counting the days until they hit the fields. And then it snowed, heavily on April 12, underscoring poet T.S. Eliot’s famous line: “April
Has spring sprung in Manitoba?
Spring is in the air. Environment Canada’s Deerwood weather station near my Miami hit 17 C Wednesday. Morden, a few 30 km to the south hit 19 C, making it Canada’s hotspot. Although there’s still lots of snow in the bush and along shelterbelts, fields in the area are mostly bare. Unfortunately for farmers anxious
West Coast bottleneck means lower prices in the country
So long as grain supplies are large the gap between world and country elevator prices will remain wide, the agriculture committee was told
Western Canadian grain farmers will continue to get a lot less than the world price, even if the railways improve their service, the House of Commons agriculture committee was told April 2. That’s because almost all of the West’s grain wants to be exported through the West Coast where prices are highest, but can’t because
CN Rail chief defends grain service, blames grain companies
But Canada’s grain monitor says the railways are mostly to blame for the backlog
CN Rail boss Claude Mongeau testily defended his company’s grain service record before MPs last week, but was often contradicted by Canada’s grain monitor, Mark Hemmes of Quorum Corporation. Hemmes, when pushed to identify who was to blame for the unprecedented grain backlog said, “I think the railways carry the brunt of it… (but) it’s
Calls coming for new car czar
Ian McCreary says the grain transportation system is lacking independent, third-party oversight for setting shipping targets and rail car allocation
Is the creation of a new car czar similar to how the Grain Transportation Agency operated two decades ago the way to keep the grain flowing smoothly to export? Speakers at last week’s grain transportation summit here said someone or something needs to co-ordinate car allocations, especially when demand exceeds supply. Even CN Rail seems
Single desk would have saved billions: former CWB director
‘Orderly marketing’ would have removed pressure of surplus grain on the market
Farmers probably would not have delivered much more grain under the former wheat board’s single desk this crop year, but they would be billions of dollars richer, according to a former CWB elected director. Ian McCreary, a farmer at Bladworth, Sask. and a former CWB staff analyst, said that’s because farmers would not be losing
Mixed reviews for new rail legislation to improve grain shipping
C-30 doesn’t spell out the service agreements grain companies want, but Ritz says they can be added through regulation. He also rejects calls for a new GTA
The Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act — Ottawa’s answer to the issues facing Canada’s grain export system — fell a little flat among the 240 farm and industry leaders’ meeting here last week. While government action on the issue was welcomed, many said the legislation tabled March 26 falls far short of providing the
CGC’s new farmer payment protection program delayed
The new insurance scheme will provide 45 days of protection after farmers deliver their grain
It’s taking longer than expected to roll out the Canadian Grain Commission’s (CGC) new insurance program to protect farmers against payment defaults by grain companies. But farmers need not worry because the current security program will continue until the new one is ready to go, Jim Smolik, the CGC’s assistant chief commissioner told Winter Cereals