Buckwheat was still a significant crop in Manitoba in the 1970s and 1980s, exceeding 100,000 acres some years, and SeCan was promoting the Manor variety in our Mar. 1, 1984 issue. However, acreage has declined to the point where it is no longer reported by Statistics Canada.
In that issue, we reported that the U.S. Federal Drug Administration was on the verge of awarding “Generally Regarded as Safe” (GRAS) status to Canadian canola. However, one industry official expressed caution as the industry was already having trouble filling domestic and Japanese demand. “Maybe we can’t handle any more,” he said. But another story reported that the Canada Grains Council was forecasting a 22 per cent increase to seven million acres that year.
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Canola market in an enviable position
Old crop canola futures spiked on April 24, which put the oilseed’s July contract in a good position to climb above C$700 per tonne.
At a Manitoba Beef Commission meeting in Russell, farmers heard that the commission was tightening regulations to catch cheaters in its price stabilization program. Farmers were attesting to the age of animals sold, but then claiming they’d made a mistake on a calf’s age when they found there was a higher payment for yearlings.
Meanwhile, at a meeting in Saskatchewan federal Agriculture Minister Eugene Whelan described plans for a federal/provincial beef stabilization program, with a possible support payment of 50-55 per cent of the difference between the current and 10-year average price, indexed for inflation.
