Farm groups applaud start of trade talks with Japan

Farm and food industry groups were quick to praise the launch of negotiations for a Canada-Japan free trade deal by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda. Japan is the third-largest economy in the world and is Canada’s second-largest agriculture market. The market is worth almost $4 billion for Canadian farmers and


Farmers fear consolidation, not foreigners, in Viterra bid

Reuters / For most of the past year, western Canadian farmers have braced for the rush of competition that will follow the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s 69-year-long monopoly on grain marketing in August. Now, they’re preparing for the possibility of seeing less than expected. The fertile region’s biggest grain handler, Viterra, said March

Cigi being wooed to move to Saskatoon

Fears that scrapping the monopoly-powered wheat board could undermine Winnipeg’s grain sector hegemony were bolstered with news Saskatoon wants Cigi (Canadian International Grains Institute) to move there. The offer came Nov. 29 during a meeting with Saskatoon economic development group representatives, Rex Newkirk, Cigi’s director of research and business development said in an interview March


Farmers head to school for Canadian Agricultural Literacy Week

It’s often said farmers speak their own language, but schoolkids in nine provinces might soon understand it a little better thanks to Canadian Agricultural Literacy Week. Hundreds of farmers will be going back to school Feb. 26 to March 3 to talk to children and read from selected books telling stories about food and farming

Port group to close as CWB monopoly ends

The 103-year-old organization that co-ordinates shipments through Canada’s two biggest grain-shipping ports is winding down, saying it may not be needed once the Canadian Wheat Board loses its monopoly. The Winnipeg-based Canadian Ports Clearance Association (CPCA) will cease operations this summer on Aug. 31, one month after the wheat board loses control over Western Canada’s


Judge delays decision on CWB

Suspending a new law that ended the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly would sow confusion in Western Canada’s grain industry, lawyers for the federal government said in court Jan. 18 in a hearing on a plea from eight former directors. The one time CWB directors, Prairie farmers ousted when the bill to revamp the CWB became

New twist in wheat board legal battle

The battle over the future of the Canadian Wheat Board has moved off the farm, out of the parliamentary chambers and into the courts. Two new court actions were launched early in the new year, including a class-action lawsuit claiming $15.4 billion is owed to farmers upon the dismantling of Canadian Wheat Board assets. “The


4-H approaches 100th anniversary in Canada

Ag Days will host a special event launching a year of celebrations leading up to next year’s 100-year celebrations for 4-H in Canada. The official launch announcing the start of these activities is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 during Ag Days, organizers say in a release. 4-H got its Canadian start

Tech-savvy farmers are going mobile

It appears the days of escaping to the tractor cab for a few air-conditioned hours away from the telephone are over on the farm. A recent Farm Credit Canada survey found 81 per cent of farmers are now packing cellphones and they are rapidly investing in smartphones and tablets. The FCC survey found 29 per