Fusarium Could Be Bad

Manitoba’s fusarium head blight outlook isn’t good, says Agriculture and Agri- Food Canada research scientist Jeannie Gilbert. But forecasting how widespread FHB, a fungal disease that can produce mycotoxins and lower crop quality and yield, will be is as difficult as predicting the weather, she said during a recent Canadian Wheat Board webinar. “If we

One Study Says This, A Paper Says That

Farmers don’t agree on the value of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) and neither do economists. A newly released study that was commissioned by the board says single desk marketing earned malting barley farmers an additional $540 million between 2004-05 and 2008-09 over the open market. But a paper prepared for the C.D. Howe Institute


Will Producers Still Be Viable In An Open Market?

Short-line railway companies are asking the federal government what impact the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s (CWB) single desk will have on the viability of producer cars, producer car-loading facilities and ultimately short-line railways. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says farmers will still have access to producer cars, but CWB chair Allen Oberg predicts it

Think Carefully Before Growing Out Volunteer Canola

Crops that were broadcast seeded before the crop insurance deadline but produce an uninsurable stand are eligible for Excess Moisture Insurance (EMI) payments, said David Koroscil, manager of Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporat ion’s (MASC) Insurance Projects and Sales. However, crops that were conventionally seeded before the deadline but have failed due to excess moisture are


One More Seeding Option

The crop insurance deadlines for annual crops have passed, but farmers still have an opportunity to generate a salable crop from those unseeded acres – while controlling weeds and soaking up some of that excess moisture. Extension agronomists and cattle producers are urging crop farmers with unseeded acres to grow greenfeed. With so many pastures

The CWB Is The Single Desk

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) is the single desk and can’t survive without it, according to CWB chair Allen Oberg. “Whether you think that is a good thing or a bad thing is up to you,” he told farmers at the Farm Progress Show in Regina June 16. “But we must look ahead with our


Manitoba Government’s CWB Support Criticized

Open-market proponents are criticizing the Manitoba government for funding a campaign to let farmers decide the Canadian Wheat Board’s future through a vote. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association (WCWGA), the Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative opposition and federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz say the Manitoba government’s $180,000 advertising program is misguided. Premier Greg Selinger says removing

Let Farmers Vote On Cwb

The Manitoba government is putting up $180,000 to pressure the federal government into letting farmers decide the Canadian Wheat Board’s future through a vote. The provincial government hasn’t ruled out funding a legal challenge to prevent Ottawa from unilaterally removing the CWB’s monopoly on the sales of all western Canadian wheat and barley destined for


Seeding Over For Many Before Deadline

The next wave of showers in the forecast hadn’t started, but last week farmers in the Souris area were conceding defeat in their fight to get a crop seeded before the June 20 deadline. “People have so-called washed their hands of it now,” said Walter Finlay, who as of June 10 hadn’t seeded any of

Sell Or Wind Down The CWB

Rhetoric is “language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but is often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content.” There’s been lots of it in the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) debate. But push came to shove with the election of a majority Conservative government May 2. The government says