Opinion & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

Editorial: Too many organizations

By John Morriss April 7, 2016

A few years ago, a group of Japanese wheat millers was touring the Canadian Wheat Board building in Winnipeg. In the transportation department, where there was a large wall map showing all the rail lines in Western Canada, they received the standard presentation on logistics. The presenter explained that to save distance and costs, wheat

Editorial, Opinion

Editorial: Hold the angry phone calls

By Laura Rance-Unger March 31, 2016

At a time when governments are dealing with ballooning deficits, the Canadian Grain Commission is dealing with the opposite — a whopping surplus. As that surplus was accumulated on the basis of service fees, which are ultimately paid by farmers, many will consider that a problem. But there are a few things to consider before

Editorial, Opinion

Editorial: The upside of losing

By Laura Rance-Unger March 31, 2016

It would appear that agri-industry is losing its two-decade-long battle to prevent labels on foods produced from genetically modified crops. This despite the millions upon millions of dollars poured into aggressive anti-labelling campaigns during state referendums on the issue. It has been a fascinating development to watch. Even as the pro-labellers successfully convinced legislators in

Editorial, Opinion

Editorial: CETA is on track for 2017. Now what?

By Laura Rance-Unger March 24, 2016

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union is on track for implementation in 2017, a full decade since leaders first began discussions. So now what? Last week, the Co-operator began a three-part series on CETA, assembled by a team of reporters from the Glacier FarmMedia network of publications. The series

Opinion

Opinion: A prescription for the obesity epidemic

By Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs Science and Technology March 22, 2016

Excerpts from the introduction to “Obesity in Canada — A Whole-of-Society Approach for a Healthier Canada,” a report issued this month by the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. There is an obesity crisis in this country. Canadians are paying for it with their wallets — and with their lives. But there

Opinion, Poultry

Editorial: Animal welfare comments on chicken housing not helpful

By John Morriss March 17, 2016

Some representatives of the egg industry didn’t do it any favours in news coverage last week. In a video on the Globe and Mail website, one Ontario farmer explained how he was moving from conventional cages to “enriched” housing, which the entire Canadian industry has decided to do, although over the next 20 years. He

Opinion

Editorial: Who will feed China?

By John Morriss March 17, 2016

Perhaps Chinese politicians, like ours, are prone to using jargon, or maybe it’s the fault of whomever translated the speech from the original Mandarin. Either way, we got a chuckle out of this introduction to a Reuters story last week. “China’s agriculture sector needs to undertake supply-side reform, especially in corn production, given bumper harvests

Editorial, Opinion

Editorial: Easy to say, not easy to do

By Laura Rance-Unger March 10, 2016

Most would agree that the so-called revenue cap on Canada’s two national railways is an imperfect solution to a complicated problem. Officially called the Maximum Revenue Entitlement (MRE), it was implemented as part of a major reform of grain transportation policy by Justice Willard Estey in 2000. It was an alternative to his proposal to

A wheat train pulls up next to a cargo ship at the Alliance Grain Terminal in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Opinion

Editorial: Long wait, more rhetoric

By Laura Rance-Unger March 3, 2016

A long-awaited report by the panel reviewing the Canadian Transportation Act will disappoint those in the grains sector looking for more accountability in the system that moves their crop to market. The report “Pathways: Connecting Canada’s Transportation System to the World” is the result of an accelerated review of the federal legislation. The scheduled review

Opinion

Editorial: Commodity voice(s)

By Laura Rance-Unger February 25, 2016

It was encouraging to see the reports emerging from the recent Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association (MWBGA) annual meeting about the potential for collaboration among the key commodity groups in the province. The MWBGA, Manitoba Corn Growers Association, Manitoba Canola Growers Association, the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Association and National Sunflower Growers Association have

Daily Network News

Southern California honeybees show resistance to varroa mites

Pulse Weekly: SaskPulse optimistic despite input, crop price concerns

Canadian aquaculture should be classed as agriculture, industry groups say

Opinion

Editorial: Too many organizations

Editorial: Hold the angry phone calls

Editorial: The upside of losing

Editorial: CETA is on track for 2017. Now what?

Editorial: Animal welfare comments on chicken housing not helpful

Editorial: Who will feed China?

Editorial: Easy to say, not easy to do

Editorial: Long wait, more rhetoric

Editorial: Commodity voice(s)

Upcoming events

AgCanadaTV

AgCanadaTV: In case you missed it; your national ag news recap for April 10, 2026

Latest Market News