New WCWGA president

Staff / The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association has elected Levi Wood of Pense, Sask. as its new president. Wood, who farms with his father on a fifth-generation farm, replaces Kevin Bender, who stepped down after four years at the association’s convention in January. Wood graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in

Wheat registration system faces review

A new review for the Prairie wheat varietal registration process could prove contentious, with defenders calling it key to Canada’s quality brand and its detractors saying it is a barrier to innovation. The industry was already looking at the system in anticipation of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly ending. A year ago, it agreed to


A new wheat and barley association another step closer

Manitoba farmers are a step closer to establishing a new spring wheat and barley association to collect voluntary checkoffs for wheat and barley research and marketing. An interim seven-member board of directors met Feb. 15 in Winnipeg and Dauphin-area farmer Don Dewar, a former president of the Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP), was selected as chair.

Railway revenues rekindle costing review calls

Canada’s two major railways once again tipped over the statutory cap revenues for shipping grain during the 2011-12 crop year — costing farmers an extra two cents per tonne. “It underscores again the need for a costing review to parallel the (rail) service review,” Bladworth Sask., farmer and agricultural economist Ian McCreary said in an


Regulations, farmer voice needed in post-CWB monopoly world

Two vocal advocates for deregulating Western Canada’s wheat marketing are now suggesting farmers need a strong voice and new regulations to protect them from the open market. While free enterprise is the best economic system, it only works when transactions are voluntary and there is true competition, Paul Earl, a former lobbyist against the Canadian

Pardons for border runners raise questions

Now that the CWB is changed, Stephen Harper says farmers who broke the law in the 1990s deserve to be pardoned

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to pardon some of the western farmers convicted of contravening Customs Act regulations in the 1990s is raising eyebrows. “Where does that stop?” Bob Roehle, a former CWB employee and member of Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board asked. “In a democracy, do I get to choose which laws I


Ottawa allocates $349 million for voluntary CWB

The money, similar to what the former 
directors estimated, 
will cover open-market 
transition costs

The federal government will spend up to $349 million to cover the Canadian Wheat Board’s (CWB) extraordinary costs as it moves to an open market Aug. 1. “The CWB must be as nimble, flexible and efficient as possible without being encumbered with costs related to the past,” Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said at a news

Appeal Court upholds “marketing freedom” law

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz didn’t break the law by introducing legislation to end the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled. “We are pleased with this decision,” Ritz said in an email. In December, Federal Court Justice Douglas Campbell agreed with the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board that Ritz breached


KAP questions checkoff administrator

The Keystone Agricultural Producers is miffed over a federal decision to appoint the Alberta Barley Commission as administrator for the new interim checkoff on western wheat and barley. “I can’t see why KAP couldn’t have handled it or why the Canola Growers or Corn Growers couldn’t,” KAP president Doug Chorney said in an interview last

Freight rate review needed

The Canadian Transportation Agency has approved a 9.5 per cent increase in the railway revenue cap for the coming crop year and that has the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association calling for a review. “This represents a significant jump in freight rates,” said president Kevin Bender. “The government needs to review the components of the revenue cap