Co-Operator Staff Win Awards

The Manitoba Co-operator’s managing editor Dave Bedard is a two-time gold medal winner in the 2009 Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation (CFWF) awards held last weekend in Edmonton. Bedard was awarded first place in the Press Editorial category (the O. R. Evans Award) sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited for his editorial titled Policy Plonk. Bedard and

CWB On WTO Block

The upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) talks, scheduled for Geneva this week, are targeting the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) single desk, warns the National Farmers Union (NFU). The WTO negotiations are expected to be based on a draft text that would eliminate western Canadian farmers’ single-desk marketing system for wheat and barley by 2013. Under


Barley Outlook Poor Despite Small Crop

For three-times-daily market reports from Don Bousquet and RNI, visit “ICE Futures Canada updates” at www.manitobacooperator.ca Grain and oilseed prices at ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg closed the week ended Sept. 3 lower, with big declines in canola. Canola was undermined by weakness in the Chicago soy complex, the beginning of the harvest, favourable weather

Farm Cash Receipts Up Slightly

Canadian farm cash receipts, or gross revenue, fell 1.4 per cent or $307 million during the first half of 2009 to $22.3 billion, Statistics Canada announced Aug. 24. The decline is mainly due to a drop in government support payments to farmers. Market receipts from the sale of crops and livestock were up two per



Farmers See Smaller Share Of Bigger Grocery Bill

If a Winnipeg family wants to know how Canadian farmers’ wares are faring in the marketplace, they won’t find the answer on their grocery bill, a new study released by Keystone Agricultural Producers suggests. Shopping trips for the same basket of foods on May 10, 2008 and June 2, 2009 find the grocery bill for


CWB promotion about supporting farmers’ product

Unfortunately, Gertrude Sawatzky was misinformed about the Canadian Wheat Board’s branding and advertising efforts (“CWB promotion waste of farmers’ money,” Co-operator, Aug. 27, page 5). The advertising budget is spent on ensuring Prairie farmers are aware of and informed about the CWB programs and services they can use – everything from notifying farmers of upcoming

CWB Exploits Deregulation Down Under

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) has taken advantage of Australia’s trouble exporting wheat following deregulation of its wheat industry, according to Rick Steinke, the CWB’s director of logistics. The Australian Wheat Board (AWB) lost its wheat export monopoly June 1, 2008 following the “oil-for-food” scandal. While the Australian government accredited 21 companies to export wheat,


2009 Good For Flax

If you’ve got a field of certified organic brown or golden flax, you may hit the jackpot this year. Relatively speaking, of course. Prices for other organic grains have fallen from the stratospheric highs witnessed in the spring of 2008, but this year the crop may yet turn out to be one of the organic

Crops Briefs

Air attack approved on early potato blight Bayer CropScience has picked up regulatory approval for aerial application of its fungicide Scala on potato crops. Scala, a Group 9 pyrimethanil product, is the only fungicide in its group registered for control of early blight in potatoes, Bayer said. It’s had registration for ground application against early