Manitoba’s average spring wheat yield is slightly higher than North Dakota’s, says MAFRI’s Pam de Rocquigny
Spring wheat yields, on average, are slightly higher in Manitoba than North Dakota, even though the perception is it’s the other way around, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiative’s cereal specialist Pam de Rocquigny told the Manitoba Agronomists Conference Dec. 12 at the University of Manitoba. Manitoba’s 10-year-average wheat yield (2003-12) is 45 bushels anWheat progress lagging in Canada, but not much better in U.S.
Prairie farm writer Rod Edwards, 72
Veteran farm reporter and former Manitoba Co-operator associate editor Rod Edwards has died following a battle with cancer. Edwards passed away Jan. 9 at age 72 at Winnipeg’s Riverview Health Centre. He worked as a reporter for the Canadian Press news agency and for the Winnipeg Free Press before joining the Co-operator in the mid-1980s.
Soybeans hot, flax is not for 2013
Expect to see a lot more soybeans and corn planted in Manitoba next spring and a lot less flax and barley, seed growers said during their annual “what’s hot, what’s not” session last month. Hard red spring and general purpose wheat are expected to be popular too, growers told the Manitoba Seed Grower Association’s annual
Let the good times roll
Some scoffed when federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said farmers wouldn’t have to start their trucks in winter because in an open market they could deliver all their wheat in fall. Not Norm Mabon. The Notre Dame de Lourdes farmer did just as Ritz forecast. “One hundred per cent of my wheat was sold and
Time to move past divisive wheat-marketing debate
Richard Gray won’t miss the fighting amongst western Canadian farmers over the Canadian Wheat Board. The University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist says the long, divisive debate distracted farmers from tackling even more financially important issues such as crop research. Grain marketing has been a touchy issue. A farmer who declined to be interviewed likened it
John Morriss awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
Veteran farm journalist John Morriss has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contribution to Canada’s agricultural industry. Morriss, who began his journalism career in 1975 with Grainews, is associate publisher and editorial director of Farm Business Communications, which publishes the Manitoba Co-operator as well as other respected journals including Grainews,
Railway revenues rekindle costing review calls
Canada’s two major railways once again tipped over the statutory cap revenues for shipping grain during the 2011-12 crop year — costing farmers an extra two cents per tonne. “It underscores again the need for a costing review to parallel the (rail) service review,” Bladworth Sask., farmer and agricultural economist Ian McCreary said in an
Grain Growers funded to promote grain sales
Fifty thousand dollars in federal government money is going to the Grain Growers of Canada to promote Canadian grain, which will include sending farmers on overseas trade missions. It’s part of $208,000 David Anderson, parliamentary secretary for the Canadian Wheat Board, announced here Nov. 21 during the annual Grain Industry Symposium organized by the Canada
CGC distributes Newco Grain security
Eligible farmers owed money for grain they delivered to Newco Grain Ltd., of Coaldale, Alta., when it was a licensed grain dealer before May 11, received 95.1 per cent of what they were owed, the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) said in a news release Nov. 23. About 144 farmers received approximately $3 million through the
Canadian grain farmers enjoying good times
It’s a great time to be a farmer in Western Canada, but don’t expect the good times to last forever, grain industry officials said during the Fields on Wheels conference in Winnipeg Nov. 9. “This is truly a time of opportunity,” said Richard Wansbutter, Viterra’s vice-president of government and commercial relations. “I really think these