The new open wheat and barley market promised for western Canadian farmers starting Aug. 1 should be monitored by an independent institution so the findings can help guide future policies, says Saskatchewan Liberal MP Ralph Goodale. “Unless you start working on this right now from the beginning and follow it through from Day 1 you
Monitor open market, Goodale says
New twist in wheat board legal battle
The battle over the future of the Canadian Wheat Board has moved off the farm, out of the parliamentary chambers and into the courts. Two new court actions were launched early in the new year, including a class-action lawsuit claiming $15.4 billion is owed to farmers upon the dismantling of Canadian Wheat Board assets. “The
Wheat growers want no-cost buybacks to get grain moving
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has pledged to push the Canadian Wheat Board for no-cost buybacks for farmers who want to pre-empt the open market expected Aug. 1. Ritz told the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association meeting in Moose Jaw last week he would push for such an arrangement or changes to producer pricing options during
Ritz to press CWB for interim no-cost buybacks
Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has pledged to push the Canadian Wheat Board to allow no-cost buybacks for farmers who’d like to market grain ahead of the official end of the single desk. Ritz told the recent annual meeting of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association in Moose Haw that he would push for such
Ex-CWB directors seek to shut down feds’ appeal
The legal battle over the Canadian Wheat Board has taken another twist: its eight fired directors are now looking to quash Ottawa’s appeal of a declaration that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz erred in deregulating the CWB’s marketing desk. Ritz introduced Bill C-18, the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act, on Oct. 18. C-18 received royal
Practical fusarium management tips
Neil Galbraith takes an integrated approach to managing fusarium head blight on his farm at Minnedosa. He shared his techniques at the 7th Canadian Workshop on Fusarium Head Blight in Winnipeg recently. Most of the conference speakers were scientists often delivering highly technical information. Galbraith provided a view from the field. Wheat variety selection, seeding
CTA issues revenue cap report
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) exceeded what it’s allowed to earn hauling western Canadian grain to port by $1.25 million last crop year (2010-11), while Canadian National (CN), was $913,447 under. The results didn’t surprise Ian McCreary, a former Canadian Wheat Board elected director and farmer at Bladworth, Sask. “Rail competition just isn’t there,” he said
Wheat variety development: Farmers asked to contribute more
Canada has fallen behind its competitors in spending on cereal research and one way or another, farmers are going to pay the cost of catching up, industry leaders say. “I think this now will be the biggest issue facing Canadian agriculture in the next 10 years, this issue of R & D expenditures,” Murray Fulton,
Conference explores life after the CWB monopoly
In a post-monopoly world, the Canadian Wheat Board will disappear altogether, or it will become the "eBay" for grain exports by bypassing the grain-handling system with container shipments. Or it will become something in between. It all depends on who was talking at the recent two-day conference here organized by the universities of Saskatchewan, Regina,
Frozen wheat lawsuit goes against CWB
The Manitoba Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court ruling finding the Canadian Wheat Board liable for negligent misrepresentation in a 1983 wheat sale and must pay $4.6 million in damages, plus costs. The Dec. 14 ruling by Chief Justice Richard J. Scott stems from a trial held in 2009. Wheat board spokeswoman Maureen