Concerns that Canada’s grain pipeline would initially struggle in the wake of ending the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly have proven groundless. A record 14 million tonnes of grain were delivered to the Canadian grain-handling system during the first 15 weeks of the crop year, Cargill Canada president Len Penner told the Grain Industry Symposium here
Post-CWB monopoly system receives record grain volume Q1
A breakdown of record grain deliveries during Q1
A record 13.8 million tonnes of grain were delivered into Canada’s grain-handling system between Aug. 1 and Nov. 11, a Cargill Canada official said last week, citing Canadian Grain Commission figures. The previous record of 12 million tonnes was set in 2006. Of that 13.8 million tonnes, 11.5 million was delivered to primary elevators (10.74
Canada’s grain system world’s best
For years Canada’s grain industry engaged in self-flagellation, condemning the grain-handling and transportation system as inefficient. Not anymore. “We have arguably the world’s most efficient handling network,” Don Solman, Richardson’s vice-president of finance and chief financial officer told the Grain Industry Symposium Nov. 21. “Back in the 1990s, basically the network was rebuilt with large
KAP sets up Puratone meeting
Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) is hosting a meeting Dec. 3 to try and clarify where grain farmers owed money by Niverville-based Puratone stand. “We’re not going to be threatening people or making statements of claim,” KAP president Doug Chorney said in an interview Nov. 26. “We really just want to get the facts out because
Trade expert calls supply management “awful, awful” policy
Supply management is bad public policy but won’t end until Canadian consumers demand it, says Michael Hart, professor of trade policy at Carleton University. “It seems to be one of the few areas where the consumer seems to be prepared to accept the status quo,” Hart said at the recent Fields on Wheels conference. The
Big, early and high-quality harvest eases transition to post-single-desk era
Alarge and high-quality crop along with an early harvest was just what the doctor ordered to ease the transition to the post-single-desk era, says the CWB’s chief operating officer. “I can’t imagine what we’d all be going through… if we were talking about a crop that was predominantly (No.) 3 red (spring wheat) with falling
Regulations, farmer voice needed in post-CWB monopoly world
Two vocal advocates for deregulating Western Canada’s wheat marketing are now suggesting farmers need a strong voice and new regulations to protect them from the open market. While free enterprise is the best economic system, it only works when transactions are voluntary and there is true competition, Paul Earl, a former lobbyist against the Canadian
Western grain system humming so far this crop year
Canada’s grain-handling and transportation system performed above average during the first 13 weeks of the new crop year, but it’s too soon to tell if there’s a connection with ending of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly, according to Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corporation, the firm hired by the federal government to monitor system performance.
Farmers left in lurch on sale of Man. hog producer
Manitoba farmers owed at least $1 million for feed grain delivered to financially troubled hog producer Puratone Corp. are left holding an empty bag with the company’s pending sale to Maple Leaf Foods. Earlier this month Toronto-based Maple Leaf, which operates a major hog-slaughtering plant at Brandon, Man., announced it was buying Puratone, one of
Puratone deal leaves farmers hanging
Manitoba farmers owed at least $1 million for feed grains delivered to financially troubled Puratone Corp. are left holding an empty bag with its pending sale to Maple Leaf. Earlier this month Maple Leaf Foods, which operates a hog-slaughtering plant in Brandon, announced it was buying Puratone for $42 million. Puratone’s liabilities total nearly $100