In Brief… – for May. 12, 2011

Viterra opens Montreal office:Canada’s biggest grain handler, Viterra Inc. has opened a marketing office in Montreal following a deal last month to run the grain terminal owned by Montreal Port Authority. The marketing office will increase Viterra’s ability to buy crops and sell them to buyers in Canada, the United States and Europe, the company

Global Grain Reserve Idea Gaining Momentum – for May. 5, 2011

During the decade from 1996 to 2006, the world became accustomed to stable crop production levels. Production problems in one part of the world were balanced out by increased production elsewhere. In such a world it was easy to argue that reserves were unnecessary, because there would always be someone with a supply they were


Letters – for Apr. 28, 2011

It is alarming that in this election no one is talking about food sovereignty and security. It should be right up there beside health care because access to affordable, safe, nutritious food can save many health care dollars. According to my cowboy logic, if you eat steak you have a stake in it. The $231

Farm Debate Mostly A Rerun Of Earlier Shows

Other than the occasional elbow in the direction of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, the two-hour debate among the main political parties on agriculture policy April 11 featured a lot of the same old taunts and promises. Liberal Wayne Easter, Bloc Andre Bellevance and New Democrat Pat Martin, whose downtown Winnipeg riding includes the headquarters of


Bangladesh Adopts Food Security Plan

Bangladesh has adopted a nearly $8-billion plan to ensure food security over the next five years, Food and Disaster Management Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said April 2. “We have finalized the investment plan for our food security until 2015 and have full support from our development partners to implement it,” he told Reuters. The government

FAO Sees Food Price Rebound

Global food prices are expected to rebound in the next few weeks after coming off record highs in March as demand keeps growing against tight supplies, a top official at the United Nations’ food agency said on April 7. “We believe that in the next few weeks, and there are already signs of it, prices


More Than Six Million Need Food Aid In N. Korea

More than six million people in North Korea urgently need food aid because of substantial falls in domestic production, food imports and international aid, the United Nations said May 25. In a report providing a rare glimpse into the reclusive communist state, where a famine in the 1990s killed an estimated one million people, three

N. Korea Must Step Up Fight On Foot-And-Mouth — FAO

North Korea’s capacity to detect and contain outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in livestock needs significant strengthening, the UN food agency FAO and the world animal health body OIE said Mar. 24. The FAO and the OIE, which sent a joint mission in the reclusive communist state in late February-early March, said FMD cases have been


Agriculture Gets Low Budget Profile

With commodity prices soaring and the federal government negotiating with the provinces on a new version of Growing Forward, no one expects agriculture to rate much more than mention in passing in the March 22 budget. A recent Agriculture Canada forecast predicted generally rosy conditions for most sectors of Canadian agriculture going forward as food