Gerry Ritz says rail performance, which is being monitored, is adequate given the big crop to move
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says he has yet to see conclusive proof that the railways aren’t doing an adequate job moving this year’s bumper crop to market. “I hear a lot of anecdotal evidence and I follow it up and say, ‘give me the car numbers… give me the dates,’ and nobody can, nobody has,”
KAP president tells ag minister rail service unacceptable
Canada leads efforts to convince importers to dump zero tolerance
Canada is leading efforts to get an international agreement that would see countries accept small amounts of unapproved genetically modified (GM) crops in their imports, says Dennis Stephens. And the Oakbank-based secretary of the International Grain Trade Coalition credits Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz for leading the charge. Ritz, along with Canada’s flax industry, experienced first
AAFC official says private companies needed to fill wheat research gap
There’s a multimillion-dollar wheat research funding gap in Canada that the private sector needs to fill, says Stephen Morgan Jones, director general of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Prairie/Boreal Ecozone. It will require stronger plant breeders’ rights rules and partnerships with publicly funded researchers, he told the Grain Industry Symposium Nov. 20 organized by the
KAP president angry over fall fertilizer ban
Doug Chorney, the normally calm, cool and collected president of the Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP), is steaming mad at the Manitoba government for failing to accommodate farmers wanting to apply fertilizer and manure to their fields last week. “I’m really upset because we were misled and I think it was deliberate,” he said in an
Churchill exports up after longer than usual shipping season
OmniTRAX says exporting crude oil through Churchill would help ensure the port’s viability
The Port of Churchill, which closed for the season Nov. 12, was open almost two weeks later than usual and exported more than 600,000 tonnes of grain. Merv Tweed, president of OmniTRAX Canada, which owns the port and the Hudson Bay Railway that serves it, said that while this year’s performance is encouraging, the port
Canada to sign UPOV ’91
Farmers will pay royalties on crop instead of seed
The federal government is poised to sign on to an international treaty that will see farmers pay seed royalties when they sell their crop. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said last week the decision to adopt UPOV ’91 by Aug. 1, 2014 will provide plant breeders with a better return on investment and encourage more private-sector
Ritz rates current rail service for grain ‘adequate’
Canada’s railways are doing an “adequate” job moving this year’s record crop to market, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz told an industry conference last week. “The increase in volume means the logistics system must fire on all cylinders to ensure farmers’ products are making it to market on time. To date our system is proving effective
Kostyshyn not budging on education tax rebate
KAP makes its case, but the minister of agriculture says his government can’t afford the current rebate program
The Manitoba government is resisting calls to roll back changes to its Farmland School Tax Rebate program, which will cost landowners millions of dollars. Keystone Agricultural Producers president Doug Chorney said Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn was sympathetic but not willing to make changes when they met late last month. “The minister says he supports usFarmers, Ottawa put $25.2 million over five years into national wheat research program
Canadian wheat research is getting a boost thanks to $25.2 million in farmer and federal government investment over the next five years. “The primary output will be new varieties, however, there will be other projects that look at breeding tools to support varieties,” said Garth Patterson, executive director of the farmer-funded Western Grains Research Foundation
Railways mum on how producer car orders are allocated when total car demand exceeds supply
Railways mum on how producer car orders are allocated when total car demand exceeds supply When rail car orders exceed the supply how do the railways decide how many cars are set aside to fill producer car versus grain company orders? Only the railways know for sure and last week they were not answering the