Letters – for May. 5, 2011

Accommodating different views on technology I read with great interest and then dismay the article in the April 21Manitoba Co-operator titled “KAP opposes Roundup Ready alfalfa’s release in Canada.” There are two things of note in regards to this article. The first is the quote made by Paul Gregory in regards to the Canadian Seed

Canadians Join Patent Lawsuit

Aclutch of Canadian organic producers has signed on with a long list of mostly U.S. farm plaintiffs to “pre-emptively” sue Monsanto against any chance that the company could sue them over patent infringement. Ottawa-based Canadian Organic Growers (COG), along with 20 other farm groups, 12 seed businesses, including Interlake Forage Seeds of Manitoba, and 26


Organic Farmers Sue, Seek Protection From Monsanto

A consortium of U.S. organic farmers and seed dealers filed suit against global seed giant Monsanto Co. on Mar. 29, in a move to protect themselves from what they see as a growing threat in the company’s arsenal of genetically modified crops. The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed the suit on behalf of more than

Letters – for Mar. 24, 2011

When “many appeared clueless about what was going on” as cited in the March 10 Manitoba Co-operator,how many of the canola growers invited to stack the largest annual meeting ever, beginning with all the MCGA directors who oversaw the theft of “the now-defunct grain co-operatives,” would have known or answered correctly that Manitoba’s Cinderella crop,


As Land Runs Out, U.S. Corn Yield Growth Must Quicken

For decades, U.S. farmers have helped feed the world by sowing some of the most versatile cropland, adjusting each year to grow a bit more of this and less of that, to replenish those crops in greatest shortage. This year, however, even with farmers planting nearly every acre of arable land, it will not be

South Africa Assists Flood-And Drought-Hit Farmers

South Africa has allocated 750 million rand ($108 million) to assist farmers affected by floods and drought in some parts of the country, state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) said March 1. IDC said in a statement 250 million rand would be allocated via financial provider Land Bank for primary agriculture, and 500 million rand would


China Drought Area Shrinks Fast

The wheat acreage affected by a drought in eight Chinese provinces has fallen by two-thirds since Feb. 8 to 2.52 million hectares, the Ministry of Water Resources said in a statement on its website on Monday. That means the drought area has more than halved since last Thursday, when it was 5.71 million hectares, according

McKnight Farms Wins Corn Competition Again

McKnight Farms of Roland has won the Manitoba Corn Growers Association’s (MCGA) annual corn yield contest for the second year in a row with a yield of 245.29 bushels an acre. That’s almost five per cent higher than McKnight’s 2009 winning yield of 198.17. It was with the same corn hybrid, Pioneer Hi-Bred’s 39D97, grown


KAP Willing To Continue Paying For RR1 Soybeans

Manitoba farmers have expressed willingness to continue paying Monsanto to grow Roundup Ready soybeans even after the patent on them expires. A resolution passed at the recent Keystone Agricultural Producers annual meeting in Winnipeg calls on KAP to “lobby Monsanto to allow Manitoba farmers to continue to grow Roundup Ready 1 soybeans under a user

Little Gain For Farmers From Off-Patent Soybean

Monsanto should stop pretending it’s doing farmers any favours in the upcoming expiry of a patent on a genetically engineered soybean, says Bob Friesen, president of Farmers of North America Strategic Agriculture Institute. “Farmers are sick and tired of these empty promises,” Friesen, the former longtime president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, said in