Producer George Matheson says they need $10 more a hog from processors otherwise only vertical integrators will survive
Manitoba’s independent hog farmers, including the Hutterite Brethren, won’t survive unless Canadian processors boost prices $10 a hog, says George Matheson, a Stonewall hog producer. “To be quite frank, I think the independent (hog) producer in this country is dying a slow death,” he told the Keystone Agricultural Producers’ General Council meeting Oct. 25. Matheson,Manitoba’s independent hog farmers will disappear
Farmers complain about problems delivering grain to CWB
CWB vice-president of grain procurement Gord Flaten says it’s mostly just growing pains and the system will work
Some grain handlers are refusing to accept CWB grain deliveries and promising better grades to farmers who bypass the new voluntary board, farmers said during a recent conference call with CWB officials Oct. 17. During the conference-call meeting with more than 3,200 farmers, an Alberta producer (who identified himself only as John) said elevator employees
Efforts to commercialize genetically modified (GM) Roundup Ready alfalfa in Eastern Canada can’t be done without harming forage seed exports from Western Canada, according to Manitoba forage seed officials. “I’m very concerned because I do not believe there’s any way to restrict the seed to Eastern Canada,” Kurt Shmon, president of Winnipeg-based Imperial Seed, said
Chorney seeking re-election at KAP
Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP’s) president Doug Chorney is running for president again in 2013. In an interview following KAP’s General Council meeting Oct. 25, Chorney, an East Selkirk-area farmer first elected president in 2011 and then in 2012, said he would let his name stand. Chorney served as one of KAP’s two vice-presidents in 2010.
Western seed industry worried about Roundup Ready alfalfa
Efforts to commercialize genetically modified (GM) Roundup Ready alfalfa in Eastern Canada can’t be done without harming forage seed exports from Western Canada, according Manitoba forage seed officials. "I’m very concerned because I do not believe there’s any way to restrict the seed to eastern Canada," Kurt Shmon, president of Winnipeg-based Imperial Seed, said in
Industry surprised grain act amendments don’t go further
Most of the amendments to the Canada Grain Act tabled in the House of Commons last week were expected. What wasn’t is that the changes cutting the 100-year-old Canadian Grain Commission’s (CGC) role in the grain industry were buried in the controversial 457-page omnibus budget implementation bill. The legislation doesn’t change the CGC’s mandate or
Award-winning Manitoba micronutrient company explains its products
Wolf Trax Innovative Micronutrients is one of those overnight successes 14 or more years in the making. The Winnipeg-based firm and recent recipient of the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation Innovation Award, has been quietly building sales of its patented Dry Dispersible Powder (DDP) micronutrient fertilizer coating in 75 regulatory regions, including the U.S., Mexico
Be careful applying micronutrients, says soil scientist Don Flaten
Some Manitoba soils need micronutrients but “they are very rare,” says Don Flaten, a soil scientist at the University of Manitoba. “We tend to have some of the most fertile soils in North America here (in Western Canada) partly because they’re young,” he said in an interview. “They’re recently glaciated and mixed up and they
Richardson’s Vancouver terminal maxed out
Richardson International plans to expand its 108,000-tonne Vancouver grain export terminal by 65 per cent to keep up with its growing business, the Winnipeg-based company announced last week. “Obviously with the changes to the Canadian Wheat Board it’s a much more competitive landscape, but there are also a lot more opportunities,” Tracey Shelton, Richardson International’s director of corporate
Dedicated farm advocate Bob Douglas passes
Bob Douglas, one of Manitoba’s pre-eminent farm champions, died Oct. 6 at the age of 80. “I think Bob is one of those unsung heroes that farmers just heard his name but didn’t know what he committed to them,” Earl Geddes, a former Keystone Agricultural Producers’ president, said in an interview Monday. “I’ve got nothing