Letters – for Aug. 4, 2011

Our government has been clear – every farmer should have a choice to sell their wheat, durum and barley, either individually or through a pooling system. International buyers purchase Canadian wheat and barley because of their high quality, not because the Canadian Wheat Board sells them. Western Canadian canola and pulses have highly successful and



2011-12 Initial Payments See Sharp Rise

he Canadian Wheat Board initial payments for the crop year beginning Aug. 1 are taking a sharp jump higher from where they were set a year ago. The payment for No. 1 CWRS 12.5 per cent protein starts off the new year at $208 per tonne, up from $128 per tonne as of Aug. 1,

CWB Farmer Directors To Meet With Growers

Farmer directors for the Canadian Wheat Board will host six meetings across the Prairies in August to discuss the board’s fate if the federal government proceeds with proposed changes to its single-desk monopoly. “As farmers, we are at the eleventh hour and facing a monumental change,” said CWB board chair Allen Oberg, who farms near


Bunge Eyes Canada After Wheat Monopoly

U.S. grain-trading giant Bunge Ltd. plans to expand its presence in Western Canada once the Canadian Wheat Board’s marketing monopoly is ended. “The most efficient system is a free market, a complete free market,” Bunge chief executive Alberto Weisser told theGlobe and Mail newspaper. The Conservative government says it will pass legislation this autumn to

CWB Ballots Must Be Postmarked By Aug. 24

Farmers who have not yet received a ballot on the future of the CWB must apply for a ballot by August 8 if they wish to vote. “Voting packages were mailed two weeks ago, and should be in farmer mailboxes by now,” said plebiscite co-ordinator Ian Craven of MNP, a chartered accounting and business advisory


In Brief… – for Jul. 21, 2011

Construction underway: Legumex Walker Inc. is starting construction of its 10th production facility, a canola oilseed-processing plant in Warden, Washington. The new facility, the company’s first in the United States, will produce expeller-pressed canola oil and high-quality canola meal. The plant will be the first commercial-scale canola-crushing operation west of the Rockies and is well

Open Letter To CWB Directors

The private elevator companies and the railways are expecting more revenue at the expense of the farmers’ income if Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz destroys our Canadian Wheat Board. The power of price negotiation for farmers is


Farmers Shouldn’t Bear Cost Of CWB Winddown: KAP

Keys tone Agr icul tural Producers want assurances farmers won’t be footing the bills associated with ending the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly. They also want key non-marketing services in research and market development, presently supported by farmers through the CWB, to continue. Delegates at the July general council meeting passed two carefully worded resolutions stating

Winter Wheat Outlook Improves

Decent growing weather over the past couple of weeks has helped winter wheat crops in Western Canada catch up in their development, but a late harvest is expected and disease is also causing problems in some areas, said an official with the Canadian Wheat Board. Most winter wheat is now in the heading stage, with