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
Sell Or Wind Down The CWB
Who’s Responsible For A Viable Open-Market CWB?
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says the Canadian Wheat Board can survive in an open market, but it’s up to the board and the industry to figure out how. Ritz arrived for a half-hour visit at the board May 30 – his first-ever foray into its downtown offices – to inform officials there what he had
Struthers Opposes Ottawa’s Open-Market Move
With many Manitoba farmers struggling to seed this year’s crop, news that the Canadian Wheat Board’s (CWB) sales monopoly will end Aug. 1, 2012 comes at a bad time, says Manitoba Agriculture Minister Stan Struthers. “The last thing they needed was to have the federal Conservative government come along and run a knife through the
Manitoba Monsoon Continues To Delay Seeding
Federal and provincial officials have started talking about aid under AgriRecovery after another week of heavy rains, hail and winds further delayed seeding. Both Manitoba Agriculture Minister Stan Struthers and his federal counterpart Gerry Ritz agreed to set up aid under AgriRecovery when they met May 31 in Winnipeg, Struthers said. Details are yet to
Broadcasting seed only option left for some
Broadcast seeding, the option of last resort, could become the only option left to farmers struggling with wet fields and rainy forecasts. Extension officials don’t recommend the strategy, whether by air or floater, but with time running out, they’re offering their best advice for how to make it work. As of May 25, some farmers
Manitoba Farmers Struggle To Seed
Souris-area farmer Walter Finlay managed to seed two-thirds of his 2,900 acres in 2010. This year he hasn’t planted an acre. “It’s a combination of the fact that we were so wet last year and then we had 3-1/2 inches in October so we went into winter wet and then we had a bunch of
Special Flood Aid Welcome: KAP
Daily talks between the Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) and Agriculture Minister Stan Struthers about flooding appears to have paid off, says KAP president Doug Chorney. The province adopted KAP’s call for 100 per cent compensation for farmers artificially flooded, including lost income, in the Manitoba government’s Flood 2011 Building and Recovery Action Plan announced May
Seed Broadcasting Tips
Broadcast seeding, the option of last resort, could become the only option left to farmers struggling with wet fields and rainy forecasts. Extension officials don’t recommend the strategy, whether by air or floater, but with time running out, they’re offering their best advice for how to make it work. As of May 25 some farmers
Aid Package For Flooded Farmers
The Manitoba government announced several compensation programs worth an estimated $44 million for farmers May 24 as part of a sweeping $175-million package of mitigation and compensation measures related to flooding in the province. There is a program for farmers south of the Hoop and Holler Bend near Portage la Prairie and surrounding Lake Manitoba
Show Farmers A Workable Plan
The federal government must demonstrate the Canadian Wheat Board’s (CWB) long-term viability in an open market or take responsibility for winding it down, says Keystone Agricultural Producers’ president Doug Chorney. “Show me a business plan that the wheat board is actually going to function in a dual market,” the farmer from East Selkirk said in