In Brief… – for Sep. 22, 2011

Sask. harvest ahead of normal:Saskatchewan farmers had harvested 60 per cent of the overall 2011 crop as of Sept. 12, moving ahead of the five-year average of 47 per cent after a week of favourable weather, the provincial government said last Thursday in a weekly report. Harvest progress was the most advanced for this time

Grain Growers Offers Budget Wish List

Modest changes in government policy could reap major benefits for farmers, the Grain Growers of Canada says in a pre-budget consultation paper for the Commons Finance Committee. Making agriculture research a key priority and rewarding producers for good environmental farm practices are among the suggestions GGC has for the committee, which holds hearings this fall


In Brief… – for Aug. 25, 2011

Correction:Due to an editing mistake, an opinion piece from Lydia Johnson which appeared in the Aug. 11 issue, contains the erroneous statement: “They did this fully knowing that they were going to ‘stuff’ this water into the already overcapacitated Lake Manitoba, which does have a proper outlet drain for the extra diverted waters to go

Importers To Limit Reliance On Cheap Russian Wheat

Russia has aggress ively undercut rivals to quickly reestablish itself in global wheat exports markets after an absence of almost a year but key buyers such as Egypt are likely to look to spread their supply risks once the price gap narrows. Exports from both Russia and neighbour Ukraine are expected to rebound strongly in


Global Food Inflation To Return After Brief Respite

Red-hot food inflation that has vexed policy-makers around the world seemed to take a breather last month, when corn and wheat prices tumbled on reports that crop shortages were easing. The sell-off was also driven by global economic worries that prompted funds to exit grains in droves. But prices are climbing again, and have already

Think-Tank Creates Food Price-Volatility Detector

Anew statistical tool will help world leaders identify when food prices become dangerously volatile and help hunger fighters decide when to release food reserves to feed the poor, said a think-tank July 7. The tool developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) could answer two goals of agriculture ministers from the Group of


UN Expert Urges Huge Investment In Small Farmers

Asenior United Nations food expert appealed June 20 for a massive investment in smallholder farming to end poverty and hunger. In an interview before the G20 meeting of farm ministers, Josef Schmidhuber, deputy director of the statistics division of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said local poverty was the root cause of hunger, not

G20 Action Plan Good For Farmers

International farm ministers rejected tight controls on commodity speculation in favour of more open information on developments in the food chain that could affect both farmers and consumers, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. The first meeting of G20 farm ministers signed an action plan in Paris that stresses more trade and innovation, including biotechnology, to


In Brief… – for Jun. 23, 2011

Ethanol vote fails:A proposal to end subsidies for the U.S. ethanol industry failed a key vote in the Senate June 14. The Senate voted 59 to 40 against limiting debate on the measure from Republican Tom Coburn that would have ended the federal ethanol tax credit and the tariff on ethanol imports before they were

The Climate Change Conundrum

ith the June 20 crop insurance past, farmers and their crop insurance agents are pulling on their galoshes to assess the W damages from yet another spring with too much water. Cattle producers are worrying about winter feed supplies as they watch flood waters inundate their hayfields. We are told this year is one for