Western Canadian farmers will pay the railways at least double what they do now to ship grain if the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE) is phased out as recommended in the Emerson Report. “The increase is somewhere between 100 and 150 per cent in real rates if we remove the MRE,” University of Manitoba agricultural economist
Scrapping maximum revenue entitlement will double farmers’ freight bill
Agricultural economist Derek Brewin concludes the MRE works for farmers and the railways and has resulted in a more efficient system
Tax protest in RM of Springfield
Organizers want the Manitoba government to remove education taxes on farmland
Landowners in the RM of Springfield are refusing to pay land taxes they say have jumped unreasonably, more than doubling in some cases. They’re hoping to see the province reconsider the way it collects education taxes from farmland, says Dugald farmer Edgar Scheurer, who first suggested Manitoba farmers take action in a Facebook posting “It
Railways say they’re ready to move grain
A late start to the shipping season, big crop and the forecast for a harsh winter are combining to challenge the railway
Canada’s railways are still ready to move Western Canada’s grain crop despite forecasts for a harsh winter. Poor weather has delayed harvest in parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta, resulting in a slow start to the 2016-17 shipping season, but grain companies and the railways are still expecting farmers will harvest in the low- to mid-70-million-tonne
Farmers pay the freight
That’s the message Transportation Minister Marc Garneau heard two weeks before he unveils a plan to revamp Canada’s transportation system
Western farm leaders’ meeting with Transportation Minister Marc Garneau in Saskatoon Oct. 20 appears to have been just in time. Garneau is scheduled to present his strategic plan for the future of Canadian transportation Nov. 3 in Montreal to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. The plan, which follows a review of the Canada
Grain profits tough to track
Although Viterra’s books are closed, its owner Glencore is publicly traded, giving the opportunity to gain some insight into the way the money flowed. Combing through them, ag economist Derek Brewin said he didn’t see irrefutable evidence of a windfall profit. But he also concedes he might have missed it. Despite marketing less grain in the
Wide basis cost farmers billions
The University of Manitoba’s Derek Brewin suspects grain companies got the money instead
Who grabbed more than $3.5 billion in revenue from the Prairie grain trade over two recent crop years? Many have asked that question and now a University of Manitoba agriculture economist has weighed into the debate. Derek Brewin says it was likely captured by the various grain companies that pocketed the difference in the 2013-14
Record provincial soybean yield on horizon
As of Oct. 13 an estimated 70 to 75 per cent of Manitoba soybeans had been harvested
When Manitoba’s soybean harvest is all safely in the bin the average yield is expected to be above the 10-year average and will probably set a record. “Overall, fields have been pretty good this year provincially,” Dennis Lange, Manitoba Agriculture’s pulse specialist, said Oct. 13 in an interview. “We are probably looking maybe at 40
Farmers get Garneau meeting
KAP’s Dan Mazier and other farm leaders were to get a face-to-face meeting with the transport minister October 20 in Saskatoon to discuss changes to the Canada Transportation Act
If all goes according to plan, western Canadian farm leaders are finally going to get a chance to bend Marc Garneau’s ear. They’ve long been seeking a face to face with the federal transport minister, to tell him what changes they’d like to see to grain transportation under the Canada Transportation Act. KAP’s Dan Mazier
Farmers fail to rally to tax revolt talk
But some want to know why their property taxes have more than doubled in a year
If farmland property taxes are too high, don’t pay them. That’s what Dugald farmer Edgar Scheurer suggested while commenting on Facebook about Manitoba Co-operator stories on skyrocketing farmland taxes. Is Scheurer, who faces a 95 per cent jump in his Rural Municipality of Springfield tax bill, seriously suggesting a tax revolt or being facetious? Although
In the battle to mitigate global warming farmers’ nitrogen use will be scrutinized
But soil scientist Mario Tenuta says there are things farmers can do to help themselves
The fight to control global warning will bring about big changes in how Manitoba farmers farm, says Mario Tenuta, professor of applied soil ecology and chair and adviser of the B.Sc. Agroecology Program at the University of Manitoba. “I predict eventually they will outlaw anhydrous ammonia and urea and replace it with high-efficiency (nitrogen) fertilizer,”