Has canola turned into a wimp or were 2012’s lacklustre western Canadian yields due to poor weather, diseases, insects and pushed rotations? The Manitoba Canola Growers Association (MCGA) hopes to find out later this month when it meets with the life science companies that produce new canola cultivars, MCGA director Ernie Sirski told the Keystone
Why were canola yields down?
Grain payment security options back in play
With Ottawa planning to switch from bonding to insurance it’s time to dust off the Scott Wolfe Management report
The federal government’s plans to revamp the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) include replacing the current bonding system with an insurance scheme to protect farmers when grain companies default on payments. CGC spokesman Remi Gosselin says an insurance program will be cheaper for the grain industry and provide better protection for farmers. More than three yearsKAP demands Ottawa improve meat inspections
It wasn’t farmers who screwed up at the XL Foods plant, but they’re the ones paying the price. That was the view of farmers attending the recent Keystone Agricultural Producers’ General Council meeting. “We feel it’s the producers who are paying for someone else’s mistakes along the way,” said Minto farmer Bill Campbell. KAP passed
KAP calls for review of crop insurance to address deductibles, other concerns
Crop insurance will be increasingly important to Manitoba farmers because of recent cuts to Agri-Stability and AgriInvest, says Keystone Agricultural Producers vice-president Dan Mazier. The Manitoba government needs to understand that, he said at KAP’s General Council meeting last month. Delegates passed a resolution calling for a review of crop insurance. While most Manitoba farmers
CGC fees to jump 44 per cent
Despite shaving $20 million in costs the CGC proposes a big increase in user fees so Ottawa no longer has to pay the bill
In its government-ordered drive to cost recovery, the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) wants the grain industry to pay an extra $16.7 million a year in user fees effective Aug. 2013. That’s a 44 per cent increase amounting to an extra $1.38 a tonne on total CGC-inspected Canadian grain exports. The figures are contained in theManitoba government defends oilpatch oversight
Companies caught dumping oilfield waste in ditches are responsible for cleaning it up, a Manitoba government official said in an email to the Manitoba Co-operator last week. The official was responding to Cromer farmer Carlyle Jorgensen’s complaint, reported in the Nov. 1 Co-operator, that the province’s Petroleum Branch isn’t doing enough to discourage improper waste
Fertilizer deadline Nov. 10
Manitoba farmers have until Saturday, Nov. 10 to finish applying fertilizer to their fields. Provincial government regulations prohibit the application of synthetic fertilizer and manure between Nov. 10 and April 10. The restriction is based on the presumption the ground is normally frozen then. Fertilizer and manure applied to frozen soil is more vulnerable to
Concern raised about Tordon sprayed in ditches
David Neufeld learned the hard way how persistent this herbicide is and now wonders how surface and groundwater are affected
A Boissevain farmer is questioning the safety of a herbicide commonly sprayed on ditch weeds after discovering it makes the compost he uses in his organic greenhouse toxic to bedding plants. David Neufeld got a nasty surprise when his greenhouse tomatoes suddenly died in 2010. A Winnipeg laboratory found the composted horse manure he wasHow to make views known on proposed new CGC user fees
Citizens have until Nov. 30 to submit, in writing, their views on the Canadian Grain Commission’s proposed new user fees. The CGC’s User Fees Consultation and Pre-proposal Notification document is available at — https://www.grainscanada.gc.ca/consultations/2012/fees-frais/ufcpn-eng.htm. (See page 39, Annex 2, Table 6, for a list of the CGC’s current fees and proposed new fees.) Email submissions
Farmer complains about oil spills
The provincial government is turning a blind eye to southwestern Manitoba oil-drilling companies dumping saltwater and oil in municipal ditches, a Cromer-area farmer says. Carlyle Jorgensen, who farms near Cromer, told the Keystone Agricultural Producers meeting here last week the government is fearful of discouraging oil well development in the province. “From December (2011) until