World powers weigh emergency meeting on food prices

Leaders want to avoid grain export embargoes that factored 
into global shortages and political instability in 2008.

Leading members of the Group of 20 nations are prepared to trigger an emergency meeting to tackle soaring grain prices caused by the worst U.S. drought in half a century and poor crops from the Black Sea bread basket. France, the United States and G20 president Mexico will hold a conference call at the end



Shell, Iogen scrap plans for Canada biofuel plant

Reuters / Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Iogen Corp. have scrapped plans for a commercial-scale biofuel plant in Manitoba, spelling the loss of 150 jobs and raising questions about widespread and near-term use of fuel made from agricultural waste in Canada. The Iogen Energy joint venture had been studying building a plant to make ethanol

Manitoba filmmakers delve into alternative fuels

If you have a pile of mouldering Tim Hortons cups in your car, you might have a fuel source at your fingertips: some work required. It’s one of the alternative fuel sources explored in the Manitoba-made documentary, “Drive For Free: The Alternative Fuel Revolution.” “We like to do stories that kind of question the status


Corn to take over Minnedosa plant this spring

Husky’s Minnedosa ethanol plan is set ditch wheat and focus on corn during a two-month-long run this spring. “In the next couple of months, March and April, we’re going to do a 100 per cent corn run,” said Raymond Dyck, Husky Minnedosa’s grain marketing co-ordinator. “This is the first time we have gone to 100

Crops Briefs, Feb. 23

Farmers favouring corn over wheat kiev / reuters / Ukraine is likely to bring in a grain harvest of 45 million tonnes in 2012 — its fourth largest in 20 years — despite a severe drought and cold snap which has hit winter grain crops. “This year’s harvest could total 45 million tonnes thanks to


George Morris Centre says Canada’s ethanol policy hurts livestock farmers

winnipeg / reuters / The George Morris Centre is calling on the federal government to curb or eliminate its support for ethanol production because it is pushing up feed grain prices. Ethanol has boosted feed grain prices by $15 to $20 per tonne in Eastern Canada and by $5 to $10 in the West, said

Conference Board Of Canada Says Ethanol Doesn’t Deserve Its Bad Reputation

co-operator contributor / ottawa Using crops to produce ethanol hasn t raised food prices and it positions Canada for a strong bioeconomy, according to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada. What s more, next-generation technologies, flex-fuel vehicles, and supporting policies could extend the role ethanol plays in Canadian transportation and manufacturing, adds


Traders Struggle To Get A Handle On Stocks

Grain traders were moaning recently about how the latest grain stocks report surprised the corn market with higher-than-anticipated corn inventories. Some even suggested that perhaps the USDA misreported how much grain was stored privately by farmers. But as a proportion of total on-farm storage capacity, U.S. corn farmers actually stored the lowest amount of their

Booming Ethanol Biz Alters Corn Use Patterns

U. S . A g r i c u l t u r e Department officials faced criticism over recent forecasts that have roiled the grains market, saying that the explosive growth of the ethanol sector had upended traditional patterns. The robust growth of the ethanol sector in the last few years has altered the