The rains caused economic pain in England

Wheat production will plummet while livestock producers are being hammered by the 
sky-high cost of 
imported feed

Reuters / Last year’s record rains will squeeze Britain’s farmers well into 2014 and force makers of bread and biofuels to buy more costly imports. Production of wheat is set to fall to its lowest level in more than a decade this summer, forcing purchases of bread-quality grain from Europe and North America. Livestock farmers

Conference board food strategy consultation a smokescreen

Why the National Farmers Union won’t be participating in the conference board discussions towards a national food strategy

For those of us who care deeply about locally based food systems and who recognize the role food can play in strengthening our communities, ecosystems and economies, it can be tempting to jump at each and every opportunity to get a piece of our vision mentioned in larger discussions about food and agriculture. As part


Eugene Whelan dies at 88

Funeral services were held Feb. 23 for the man beneath the green Stetson hat who took the helm of Canadian agricultural policy during the Trudeau administration. Eugene Whelan, Canada’s agriculture minister from 1972 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984, died late Feb. 19 at age 88. According to the Windsor Star , Whelan’s death, at



A new wheat and barley association another step closer

Manitoba farmers are a step closer to establishing a new spring wheat and barley association to collect voluntary checkoffs for wheat and barley research and marketing. An interim seven-member board of directors met Feb. 15 in Winnipeg and Dauphin-area farmer Don Dewar, a former president of the Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP), was selected as chair.

England’s wettest year drives down farm incomes

Reuters / Farm incomes are set to fall in England in 2012-13 with pig and dairy producers among the hardest hit as feed costs climb and the wettest year on record reduces crop yields and quality, Britain’s Farm Ministry said Jan. 31. Specialist pig farms are expected to see a 50 per cent fall in


Russian winter grain crops suffer

moscow / reuters / Dry conditions during sowing and cold snaps are taking their toll on Russia’s winter grain crop. Russia’s Grain Union says conditions are similar to those last winter, which preceded a fall in the country’s gross grain harvest to just over 70 million tonnes in 2012 from 94 million tonnes in 2011.

Optimism in agriculture unprecedented, says KAP president

It’s a good time to be a farmer and the future for agriculture looks even brighter, says Keystone Agricultural Producers’ president Doug Chorney. “I think the level of optimism in agriculture today is really unprecedented,” he said in his state-of-the-industry address kicking off the general farm organization’s 29th annual meeting in Winnipeg Jan. 23. “I


Washington to offer micro loans to small farmers

washington / reuters The U.S. Department of Agriculture will help small farming operations, including those run by minority or socially disadvantaged farmers, improve their access to credit. The program will offer loans of up to $35,000 for terms of up to seven years to help recipients deal with farming’s often prohibitive startup costs. “History tells

Farmer’s privilege open to interpretation

A farmer’s ability to save seeds could be threatened if the Comprehensive European Trade Agreement (CETA) includes the changes to plant breeders’ rights, says the National Farmers Union (NFU). Canada’s current system of plant breeders’ rights is based on the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants Convention’s (UPOV) 1978 framework. But