wheat heads

Farmers of North America contends its plan for privatized CWB was better than G3’s

FNA wants to work with CWB to make grain handling and fertilizer distribution more efficient for farmers

Farmers of North America (FNA) didn’t get the chance to turn CWB into a farmer-owned company, but it’s still willing to work with the new owners, officials said last week. James Mann, president of the Saskatoon-based FNA, said under its proposal farmers would have owned 100 per cent of the company, as opposed to the

CWB building

Mixed reaction to sale details: some like it not, some like it sold

Opponents say the lack of farmer control and foreign ownership is offensive while others are glad the deal is done

The Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (FCWB) and National Farmers Union and federal NDP oppose the sale. “This was just another step in the largest transfer of wealth away from farmers in the history of this country,” said FCWB chair Stewart Wells who farms at Swift Current, Sask., and served as an elected wheat



farmer in a field of wheat

Editorial: The real deal to watch

There has been quite the media hullabaloo lately over rumours that a large multinational based in the U.S. might be closing in on a deal with CWB, the much abbreviated version of the former Canadian Wheat Board. Whether this rumoured deal is a partnership or acquisition depends on who’s talking, but in reality, it doesn’t


Canadian Wheat Board building in Winnipeg

FNA wants more time for CWB bid

Is a sale being sped up ahead of the next federal election?

Farmers of North America (FNA) says with harvest delays it needs another six to eight weeks to pitch its plan for farmers to buy CWB from the federal government. But FNA president and CEO James Mann fears CWB will be sold first — probably to a foreign multinational grain company. “I would say I don’t

Farmers of North America has a plan for a farmer-owned CWB

Farmers of North America has a plan for a farmer-owned CWB

What isn’t clear is if CWB supports the idea or if the organizations have even discussed it

Farmers of North America (FNA) wants to help farmers get majority ownership of CWB, but neither organization is saying whether they’ve discussed the plan or if CWB supports it. Saskatoon-headquartered FNA, which describes itself as “a business alliance of farmers dedicated to maximizing farm profitability,” outlines on its website a plan to create a farmer-owned


Farm group fingers agency for slow introduction of generic pesticides

Farmers of North America say Canada’s overly onerous regulations mean cheaper generic 
farm chemicals are hard to find north of the U.S. border

Afederal agency that’s supposed to help farmers get their hands on cheaper generic pesticides is instead throwing up roadblocks to their introduction, according to critics. Ottawa introduced regulatory changes three years ago to speed up the introduction of generic versions of off-patent pesticides, but the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency “has not bought into that agenda,”

FNA hires MNP to assist with nitrogen plant

Staff / Farmers of North America Fertilizer Limited Partnership (FNA FLP) has hired corporate consulting and accounting firm MNP LLP to design the sales and distribution structure for the company’s proposed nitrogen fertilizer plant, FNP says in a release. MNP will also assist in developing supply agreements for the farmer owners of the plant. FNA


FNA will act as sourcing agent for new CWB

Staff with Farmers of North America (FNA) will soon be able to act as the middleman for farmers interested in contracting grain to CWB. Saskatoon-based FNA, a farmers’ buying group negotiating deals on low-cost inputs and other farm supplies and services, announced Jan. 24 its staff will act as “a key sourcing agent for CWB

Nitrogen plants popping up like mushrooms

Lured by the promise of cheap and plentiful natural gas, more hopefuls are jumping into the nitrogen fertilizer production. Earlier this spring, Northern Plains Nitrogen (NPN) launched plans for building a $1.5 billion North Dakota project, and in mid-September, CHS Inc., the largest farmer co-op in the United States, unveiled its plan to open a