Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association director David Rourke says it will do most of its research on joint projects with other provinces.

Giving farmers a role in variety development

Should farmers just provide a little assistance, or form their own breeding company?

What role should farmers play in developing new wheat and barley varieties? It’s a question Western Canada’s cereal groups are tackling together, says Brent VanKoughnet, a consultant working with the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association (MWBGA), one of the groups involved in the project. Directors and staff from eight organizations, with some funding and

a man holding wheat in his hand

Editorial: Will Wheat Commission’s PDQ project have any teeth?

Also, A job for the senators: Answering the unanswered questions of UPOV '91

If you didn’t read Phil Franz-Warkentin’s article on calculating basis on page 11 last week and don’t still have a copy, you can find it by going to our website and searching for “muddied.” That word appropriately describes the voodoo combination of futures and exchange rates that Prairie grain companies use to calculate their published


Editorial: The (not so) great farm smackdown

If you’ve ever watched “smackdown” wrestling on television, you have to admit it’s entertaining, in a perverse sort of way, watching those muscle-bound burly sorts strutting around pounding their chests like apes and shouting insults. Even when they are throwing punches or tossing each other out of the ring, it’s pretty obvious that it’s all

Gerry Ritz, Canada's agriculture minister

Commercial feed mills to be covered by CGC security

When governing the grain commission Gerry Ritz says ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’

If Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz gets his way, farmers who sell to feed mills will be protected under the proposed Canadian Grain Commission’s (CGC) producer payment security program. “My direction to them (CGC) is find a way to incorporate feed mills,” Ritz said in an interview Jan. 9. “The direction is, yes, they will be


railway cars

The little railway that could

Boundary Trails Railway Co. had a record year in a year of epic railway snags

Southern Manitoba’s Boundary Trails Railway Company (BTRC) had geography on its side last year, more than tripling the number of cars it handled. The 38-km short line, which runs from Morden to Binney Corner just west of Manitou, handled 619 grain cars in the 2013-14 shipping year. The company is owned by 90 shareholders, mostly

man at podium speaking into microphone

Asian markets interested in Canada Prairie Spring wheats

Manitoba farmers haven’t shown much interest in the class in recent years focusing instead on CWRS


Canada’s Western Red Spring wheat, this country’s flagship wheat that is famous for its bread-making quality, is accustomed to having the spotlight all to itself. But lately two of its siblings — Canada Prairie Spring (CPS) and Canada Western Red Winter classes of wheat have been earning quite a name for themselves with buyers. Interest


silhouette of a man

NFU is a voice farmers need — if only they would listen

After nearly 50 years of fighting for farmers, the National Famers Union voice is showing its age

Late last month, the predictable mélange of National Farmers Union members gathered for the organization’s 45th annual meeting, where the big item on the agenda was updating the organization’s brand with a new logo and fresh tag line. It was clear that some members believed the dated look and feel of the pan-Canadian group was

two men at a podium during a presentation

The CGC is still on guard for thee

Canada's grain quality system has not been compromised post-wheat board or by the changes at the grain commission, the CGC's chief commissioner says

Canada’s wheat quality assurance system has not been weakened by elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board’s sales monopoly or inward inspection at export terminals, say Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) officials. “In light of a lot of the stories that have been going around I want to assure you it (ending inward inspection) hasn’t affected grain


CWB building in Winnipeg

CWB privatization attracts national attention

The former wheat board responds in ‘open letter,’ while the NFU calls on the western provinces 
to buy the board’s assets until farmers can take control

Maybe it was MP Pat Martin’s question to Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz: “Has the minister lost his freaking mind?” or a recent Globe and Mail editorial, but CWB’s transition to a private grain company is getting lots of attention beyond the farm sector. So much so CWB issued an ‘open letter’ Dec. 5 to explain

farmer in a field of wheat

Editorial: The real deal to watch

There has been quite the media hullabaloo lately over rumours that a large multinational based in the U.S. might be closing in on a deal with CWB, the much abbreviated version of the former Canadian Wheat Board. Whether this rumoured deal is a partnership or acquisition depends on who’s talking, but in reality, it doesn’t