It played well with open-market supporters and Conservatives, but several academics see it as an abuse of power
Pardons might be justified for some farmers who ran the border to protest the Canadian Wheat Board’s former monopoly, but several university professors say it’s wrong for the prime minister to be conferring them. “The fact that it was done by the prime minister makes it look like a party political stunt and that leavesHarper’s involvement makes pardons partisan, critics charge
Scientists work to reduce bean diseases
Some of their work was displayed during the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association’s recent annual tour
Can the same technology that warms up leftover pizza control seed-borne diseases in beans? A University of Guelph master’s student is hoping to find out. Allison Friesen is testing microwaves on seed-borne diseases such as halo blight and common bacterial blight, two diseases that can cut into yields and quality. “She spent the winter withPardons for border runners raise questions
Now that the CWB is changed, Stephen Harper says farmers who broke the law in the 1990s deserve to be pardoned
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to pardon some of the western farmers convicted of contravening Customs Act regulations in the 1990s is raising eyebrows. “Where does that stop?” Bob Roehle, a former CWB employee and member of Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board asked. “In a democracy, do I get to choose which laws IPrime minister celebrates grain-marketing freedom
The new CWB says it’s ready to compete in an open market and buoyed by a good crop, high prices and farmer support
The drama over the demise of the Canadian Wheat Board single desk showed no sign of abating last week as the new era of open grain marketing began. Prime Minister Stephen Harper told several hundred cheering farmers gathered at a farm near Kindersley, Sask. Aug. 1 farmers who ran the border to challenge the board’sHigh quality versus high yields
The search is on for a way to allow higher-yielding wheats while protecting Western Canada’s reputation as a premium producer of red spring and amber durum wheat. “All of the sectors affected by variety registration have come together in a very positive spirit to work towards developing something that will address the concerns and preserve
CWB sees good crop, good quality, good prices ahead
Western Canadian farmers were beginning to harvest a bumper, high-quality crop at a time of strong world prices that are expected to remain that way during the 2012-13 crop year, a CWB official said last week. Widespread drought in the American Corn Belt and the wheat-growing areas of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, is positive for
No need for ad hoc Ontario drought aid, says Ritz
Existing supports should be enough The federal government doesn’t expect to announce any ad hoc aid programs for Ontario farmers suffering from drought, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz told reporters in Saskatoon July 31. “I think we have fullness in our programming that allows us the latitude to address this,” Ritz said. Earlier in the day
Scout now for blackleg to prevent future infections
Manitoba canola growers are being urged to check their fields for blackleg infections. Two severely infected fields were discovered recently in the province, even though the varieties were rated as blackleg resistant. “It’s the worst blackleg I have ever seen and I’ve been looking at blackleg in canola since the late ’90s,” Anastasia Kubinec Manitoba
CWB monopoly ends,open market begins
As the fluffy, golden-awned heads of barley flowed seamlessly into Ron Sabourin’s combine last week, he was more focused on getting this year’s crop in the bin than he was with the dawn of a new marketing era in Western Canada. Sabourin started pricing out this year’s wheat last December and doesn’t plan to use
No ad hoc aid for Ontario producers: Ritz
The federal government doesn’t expect to announce any ad hoc aid programs for Ontario farmers suffering from drought, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz told reporters in Saskatoon July 31. "I think we have fullness in our programming that allows us the latitude to address this," Ritz said. Earlier in the day Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty asked