U.S. Farmers To Sow Idle Acres, Yields In Doubt

For the past five years, Nebraska farmer Brandon Hunnicutt has carefully avoided a small, soggy seven-acre plot of land in the middle of his farm, fearing the poor soil will be more trouble than it’s worth. This year, however, Hunnicutt – and thousands of others across the Midwest – will rush to cash in on

U.S. Farmers Plant Huge Crops As Stocks Dwindle

U.S. farmers say they will plant some of the biggest corn and soybean crops ever this spring, racing to keep pace with unrelenting global demand that’s rapidly depleting stockpiles and driving up food costs. A government survey found corn plantings would be the second largest since the Second World War and soybeans the third highest


Changes Coming To CWB’s Select Winter Wheat Program

The Canadian Wheat Board has made changes to its select winter wheat program in hopes of transporting and marketing the crop more efficiently. In the past, farmers signed Guaranteed Delivery Contracts for select winter wheat throughout the crop year. Now farmers hoping to market the winter wheat they planted last fall as select must register

Getting Agriculture Some Recognition In The Federal Election

Grain Growers of Canada was the first farm group to pitch farm policies to the parties competing in the May 2 election. President Stephen Vandervalk asked the party leaders “to make agriculture a key part of your election platform. Recent issues like food prices, food safety, biofuels and sustainability have created public interest in agriculture.”


Two Growers Needed To Try Something New

Ever wonder what would happen if you just dumped a shotgun blast of legume, cereal and brassica seeds into the seeder and drilled it in? Two or more growers in the southwest and southeast corners of the province are needed to do just that, as MAFRI’s polycrop trial enters its second year. “The multicropping thing,

CWB Repeats Its Conditions For Approving GM Wheat

A number of conditions must be met before the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) will support the introduction of genetically modified (GM) wheat in Canada. “We feel there needs to be rules put into place,” District 10 CWB director Bill Toews told farmers here last month. “Before any of that happens there has to be an


Letters – for Mar. 31, 2011

I would like to address our federal agriculture minister’s continued use of the statement of “putting farmers first.” First, as a beginning farmer a short while ago, I fell through some cracks in our agriculture programs. I had appealed every decision, right up to your office, with the same outcome each time, and at each

Court Of Appeal Upholds Ritz’s Rules

The Federal Court of Appeal has confirmed legality of federal government changes to the voters’ list in the 2008 Canadian Wheat Board director elections. But the same court also ruled that the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (FCWB) – had a legal right to challenge the ruling. In January 2010 Federal Court Judge James


Flood Fears Prompt Grain Movement

Farmers are taking advantage of a Canadian Wheat Board program to move stored grain out of areas at risk of flooding this spring. As of March 18, 100 Manitoba producers had signed up to move 24,000 tonnes of grain, mostly wheat, off flood-prone farms and into elevators, the CWB said. Most of the signup is

“Great Grain Robbery” Law Reveals Big U.S. Sales

A1973 U.S. law requiring grain traders to promptly report export sales last week shed light on a mammoth corn sale believed to be destined for China. The U.S. Agriculture Department announced last Friday the sale of 1.25 million tonnes of corn worth $350 million to an unknown destination, which traders believe is China. The law