The Jacksons – for Apr. 14, 2011

Raindrops splattered on the windshield as Andrew Jackson turned his truck onto the main street in town. Andrew reached to turn on the wipers as he turned into a parking spot in front of the café next to Grant Toews’ new Dodge Ram half-ton. He took a moment to admire the look of his friend’s

A Boost For Wheat Research

It’s nice to see headlines about the need for more investment into wheat research these days, even if some of the stories swirling around that topic are a mite confused. Last week started with news reports in mainstream dailies across Canada citing a leaked memo from the National Research Council and reporting that genetically modified


Letters – for Apr. 14, 2011

Open letter to Brian Otto, president of Western Barley Growers Association: I dissected the results of the CWB elections and found a very different result and meaning than the outcome your ads proclaim. Upon looking at who originally voted in the first round and then calculating where they went on the second ballot, it became

Organic Alliance Seeks Financial Relief For Small Growers

Aprovincial industry lobby group wants the Manitoba government to ease the financial burden which new regulations will place on small organic farmers. The Manitoba Organic Alliance is asking the province to rebate part of the money small producers will have to pay to comply with organic standards under the incoming regulations. Currently, growers can sell


Marketing Survey Not Supported

The canola growers’ associations in Saskatchewan and Alberta are distancing themselves from efforts from a group of Manitoba growers who want to try marketing the crop through the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). Last week the Manitoba Canola Growers Association (MCGA) ran a survey in the Manitoba Co-operatorand Western Producerasking how many tonnes of canola farmers

Waters Remain Muddied For Seeding Predictions

Canola futures on the ICE Futures Canada trading platform were mixed during the week ended April 8, with old-crop months down and new-crop contracts posting advances. The sell-off of the nearby May and July canola futures reflected the ample old-crop supply situation and the absence of demand from the domestic and export sectors. Talk surfaced


CWB Deal Not What Most Shippers Want

Shippers frustrated by inadequate rail service won’t likely be keen to copy an agreement struck by CP and the Canadian Wheat Board to improve grain shipments. The agreement is short on specifics especially whether it contains any financial penalties for non-performance, said Bob Ballantyne, president of the Canadian Industrial Transportation Agency. The railways want to

It’s Wet Across The West

Snow is still piled deep on Humphrey Banack’s Camrose, Alberta grain farm at a time when he’s usually tuning up his tractor for planting. The wettest fields before planting since the 1970s look to frustrate Canadian farmers’ zeal to sow their fields on time this spring and cash in on wheat and canola prices that


GE Wheat Not On Research Agenda

The National Research Council is ruling out research into genetically engineered wheat as it puts the final touches to a plan to support wheat research across Canada to double yields and improve drought tolerance and disease resistance. Wheat has become the poor cousin to corn, soybeans, canola, pulses and other crops that have attracted a

Feed Wheat Helps To Fill Corn Void

Arecord five billion bushels of corn will be used to make fuel ethanol, a potential strain on the tightest U.S. corn supply in 15 years, but it will be offset by more use of wheat as a substitute for corn in hog and poultry rations, said the government on April 8. USDA pegged the carryover