Bad weather – preferably elsewhere – is Prairie farmers’ best bet for a wheat market rally this year, the Canadian Wheat Board’s director of weather and crop surveillance unit told farmers attending Manitoba Ag Days Jan. 20. “We’re going to need a weather event in one of those big six (exporting) countries to turn the
Markets Headed Sideways For Now
Taking Ownership
Farmers have heard lots about value lately – value-added processing, value chains and supply chain partnerships. But quite frankly, the “how” of where these initiatives will add to their bottom lines has remained elusive. Of course, value-added developments often mean additional or expanded marketing opportunities, but many of these tend to be small and selected,
Grain Bags Need Further Study
Grain bags, also known as silo bags or grain sausages, may seem like a quick-and-easy solution to the problem of where to put that bin buster of a crop. But a University of Manitoba grain storage researcher had some cautionary words about a product that has seen precious little study when he spoke to farmers
Retractable Auger Wins Inventor’s Showcase
Alberta entrepreneur Jim Grose has proven once again that necessity is the mother of invention. The winner of this year’s Inventor’s Showcase at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon found that while the larger B-Train trucks were a big advantage on the farm, they were a pain to unload. So the Clive, Alta. farmer headed for
Marketing Board Or Private Club?
Debate and controversy are nothing new to orderly marketing. Whether it is supply management, as in the case of dairy or poultry, or single-desk selling, as in the case of the Canadian Wheat Board, there is a legitimate discussion over whether the public good these systems generate outweigh their costs to personal freedom. There are
A Holiday Wish
One of the intense pleasures of travel is the opportunity to live amongst peoples who have not forgotten the old ways, who still feel their past in the wind, touch it in the stones polished by rain, taste it in the bitter leaves of plants. So begins the 2009 Massey Lecture series by Wade Davis,
Beware Of Those “Activists”
Back in the 1920s, a young lawyer – an American – no less, was stirring up trouble among rank and file farmers on the Canadian Prairies and throughout the U. S. Aaron Sapiro was campaigning to bring about political and social change that would give farmers marketing clout through the formation of co-operatives. We can
Focus On What Customers Want
“Those people who were laughing about Jersey-Dexter crosses, aren’t laughing now.” Edmonton-area entrepreneur Bruno Wiskel has tried a lot of enterprises on his tiny half section of farmland – and some of them have failed. “But the point is, we tried,” he told participants in the Mani toba Grazing School recently. “The thing about farming
Growing The Industry Before The Market
Canada’s beef sector must move out of America’s shadow and take charge of its own future, two prominent beef industry consultants told a Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council (MCEC) strategy session Nov. 30. “You just have to wake up to the reality that if you are going to access export markets, you are going to have
U. S. Entrepreneur Says There Is A Better Way To Raise Beef
If Todd Churchill is right, he’s come up with a grass-fed beef production model that could pull the rug out from under confinement grain-fed livestock-feeding systems. “In my opinion, confinement livestock is about to be thrown virtually off the bus,” Churchill told a Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council strategic planning session Nov. 30. “In 10 years,