Most Manitobans Support Keeping CWB Single Desk: Struthers

After connecting with Manitobans through a “virtual” meeting on the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) June 29, there’s no question most Manitobans support the board’s statutory single desk, Stan Struthers says. More than 70 per cent of respondents who voted over the phone favour that, Manitoba’s minister of agriculture, food and rural initiatives said in an

Weekly Weather Map – for Jul. 14, 2011

The Weather Vane is prepared by Daniel Bezte, a teacher by profession with a BA (Hon.) in geography, specializing in climatology, from the University of Winnipeg. Daniel has taught university-level classes in climate and weather and currently operates a computerized weather station at his home near Birds Hill Park, on 10 acres he plans to


Cfia Gets New President

George Da Pont, a seasoned federal bureaucrat, has been named president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. He replaces Carol Swan who has retired. Da Pont became executive vice-president of the agency a year ago with the expectation that he would move into the top job eventually. With CFIA under repeated attack by its main

Cwb Will Hold Farmer Vote

Outraged open-market proponents were calling on farmers to boycott a plebiscite on grain marketing announced by the Canadian Wheat Board last week. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says he will place little to no value on the results. The current CWB Act requires farmers approve such a change through a vote first; the government plans to


“ I – for Jun. 30, 2011

t was like we’d come to another world.” Doug Chorney was shaking his head in amazement after a quick plane trip around the province last week to observe first-hand the extent of overland flooding. From the air, the president of Keystone Agricultural Producers could see vast expanses of flooded fields. An estimated three million acres

Oberg Criticized For Defeatist Attitude

The heated debate over the future of the Canadian Wheat Board rose a few more degrees last week with the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) and the Western Grain Elevators Association (WGEA) accusing the CWB’s directors of not trying hard enough. GGC executive director Richard Phillips lambasted CWB chair Allan Oberg for taking a defeatist


More Than 5,100 Signed Petition For CWB Vote

As of June 24 more than 5,100 people had signed the Manitoba government’s online petition calling on the federal government to let farmers vote on whether or not to create an open market for wheat and barley Aug. 1, 2012. That figure doesn’t include those who have signed petitions in Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural

Weekly weather map – for Jun. 30, 2011

The Weather Vane is prepared by Daniel Bezte, a teacher by profession with a BA (Hon.) in geography, specializing in climatology, from the University of Winnipeg. Daniel has taught university-level classes in climate and weather and currently operates a computerized weather station at his home near Birds Hill Park, on 10 acres he plans to


One Study Says This, A Paper Says That

Farmers don’t agree on the value of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) and neither do economists. A newly released study that was commissioned by the board says single desk marketing earned malting barley farmers an additional $540 million between 2004-05 and 2008-09 over the open market. But a paper prepared for the C.D. Howe Institute

An Example Of Price Discrimination

An excerpt from “The Canadian Wheat Board and Marketing of Western Canadian Barley” study prepared by Professors Andrew Schmitz and Troy G. Schmitz For instance, suppose the Pacific Northwest (PNW) barley price is $120 per tonne and the CWB is negotiating a sale of barley to Japan. If the CWB tries to sell 300,000 tonnes