Thunder Bay, once the world’s largest grain port, hasn’t even been Canada’s top grain port for years. But there’s hope on the horizon. Populations are growing faster in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America than anywhere else, Rick Steinke, the Canadian Wheat Board’s (CWB) vice-president of logistics told the Fields on Wheels conference in
Thunder Bay To See More Grain Exports
West Coast Wheat Shipments Drop
Total West Coast grain movement so far this crop year is just a bit off the pace from 2009-10. As of week 18 (Dec. 5) grain terminals in Vancouver and Prince Rupert shipped out almost 6.4 million tonnes of the major grains and oilseeds, down seven per cent compared with the same period a year
Producer Cars Receiving Special Treatment, Farm Leader Charges
Producer cars and short line railways receive special treatment from the Canadian Wheat Board, according to the president of the Grain Growers of Canada. “Producer cars are not always profitable,” Doug Robertson told a symposium put on by his organization and the Canada Grains Council last month. “Sometimes certain agencies (CWB) make them profitable for
MCGA Still Exploring Canola Marketing Through The CWB
Efforts continue to get the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) to set up a three-year pilot project to market canola on a voluntary basis, but it’s a slow process. “We have a committee that wants to go ahead with this or put it to rest,” said Butch Harder, a director with the Manitoba Canola Growers Association
Variety Declarations Put To Test
The Canadian Wheat Board is being sued for more than $50 million by a Saskatchewan farm that has its delivery contract cancelled for delivering an ineligible variety of Red Spring wheat. But industry officials say the lawsuit by Hudye Farms Inc. and two associated companies is really a test of the four-year-old grain variety declaration
Wheat Board Director Tips Off Alberta Grains Council
Aleaked email shows that Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) director Henry Vos tipped off the Alberta government about a CWB barley study, but it’s not clear whether he has breached confidentiality rules. That can only be determined by the directors if it comes to their attention, said board spokesman and retiring District 9 director Bill Nicholson.
Monsanto Committed To Canola
Derek Penner was an infant when canola, a healthier derivative of rapeseed, was first developed in 1974 at the University of Manitoba in collaboration with Agriculture Canada. Last week, the youthful president of Monsanto Canada helped open Monsanto’s new $12-million canola-breeding centre at the U of M’s Smartpark. “It embodies Monsanto’s very best in research
Monsanto Monitoring Attitudes On GM Wheat
The roadblock to rolling out genetically modified wheat isn’t consumer resistance in Europe or Japan, it’s ambivalence among Canadian farmers, according to Monsanto Canada president Derek Penner. “My attitude is there hasn’t been much shift towards GMO wheat (in Canada),” Penner told reporters Nov. 23 at the opening of Monsanto’s new Canada Breeding Centre at
Some Mum On Single Desk Versus Open Market
Since the first Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) directors’ election in 1998 candidates have declared themselves “for” or “against” retaining single-desk selling. In this year’s contest, five of the candidates running in Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 are mum on the question: Henry Vos, Brian Otto, Vicki Dutton, Terry Youzwa and Ernie Sirski, leaving
Four Groups Registered As Third-Party Interveners
The 2010 Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) election has been uncharacteristically quiet this time round. In 2008, there were allegations that federal government improperly engaged in the election when several Conservative MPs used their offices to mail letters urging farmers to elect candidates opposed to single-desk selling. There was also controversy over changes to the voters’