Members of Grain Farmers of Ontario sport a banner outside a provincial cabinet minister’s office in 2015. (File photo by Ralph Pearce)

GFO quits Grain Growers of Canada

Grain Farmers of Ontario flags national group's 'governance' and structure

Grain Farmers of Ontario has dropped out of Grain Growers of Canada. The Ontario organization, which represents about 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean and wheat farmers in the province, cited a lack of representation in the national policy group. GFO publicly announced its withdrawal in a news release on Thursday, days after it informed the

Glacier FarmMedia sets up shop in Ottawa

A Prairie journalist goes to Ottawa to cover agriculture for you

These days I am becoming more thankful to those who do thankless work. About one month ago, I settled in Ottawa. I claim “the West” as home to those here who ask. Most of my growing up was in Calgary and the bulk of my journalism career up until now has been in Saskatchewan. Now


Manitoba’s ‘climate and green’ plan good policy, smart politics

It's often easier and safer to oppose something than to come up with a plan and implement it

The “Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan” is smart politics, but more importantly could be good policy. That latter hinges on the plan to cut carbon emissions by up to 2.6 million tonnes by 2022 working. But there’s a possibility it might not be implemented, or at least not fully. The federal government says Manitoba’s flat

grain train canola field

CN car fulfilment dropped in weeks 11 and 12

However, the company says it is bringing more crews and power online to pick up the pace

CN Rail is still struggling to fulfil grain car orders in Western Canada, according to statistics collected by the Ag Transport Coalition (ATC). A CN spokesperson says the company is committed to meeting grain company needs. To that end CN has ramped up hiring and this quarter will add another 250 new crew members, Kate

KAP president Dan Mazier says the farm organization got much of what it wanted from the “Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan,” including a carbon tax exemption on “marked” farm fuel.

Mazier defends KAP’s approach on ‘made-in-Manitoba’ carbon tax

He says the position was developed democratically and KAP got much of what it wanted to reduce the negative impact on farmers

A year after the Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) opted to participate as the provincial government developed “A Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan,” some KAP members are asking why the farm organization doesn’t oppose a carbon tax. “I find this entire carbon tax thing to be a complete fiasco and I view our prime minister (Justin


Aid refusal fuels flames of western alienation

Aid refusal fuels flames of western alienation

Our History: November 1999

Farm income, or the lack of it, dominated our pages in the fall of 1999. The November 4 issue reported on angry comments from a group of western farmers who had visited Ottawa to ask for $1.3 billion in aid. They met with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief and other ministers, and

Purple fuel is exempt from Manitoba’s $25-a-tonne carbon plan that starts next year, but the province hasn’t decided if the exemption will apply to barn heating or grain dryer fuels. Premier Brian Pallister rolled out his Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan at Oak Hammock Marsh Oct. 27.

Purple farm fuels exempted from Manitoba carbon tax

The government is emphasizing the newly released ‘Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan’ is much more than just a carbon tax and is seeking citizen feedback

Purple fuel won’t be subject to Manitoba’s proposed carbon tax, but that exemption may not be extended to heating for barns, greenhouses and grain dryers. The plan calls for Manitoba to bring in a flat $25-a-tonne carbon tax coming next year, rather than the federal government’s $10-a-tonne levy that would rise over time to $50

Delegates discuss soil health issues, solutions and what should be included in a hypothetical soil health kit during a breakout session of the Global 4-H Summit.

4-H’ers dig into soil health policy and education

Soil health was a repeat topic as 4-H members from around the world turned their attention to sustainable agriculture and food security

It’s time to think about what lies below our feet. That was the message delegates from 35 countries received from multiple speakers at the recent Global 4-H Summit in Ottawa. Soil health emerged from several workshops during the third day of the July 11-14 conference, themed around sustainable agriculture and food security. Syngenta Canada, also


Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler says government needs to have the right support programs to meet farmers’ needs.

Analysis: AgriStability review welcomed, but can it be fixed without more money?

KAP says in 2013 the program switched from farm income stability to disaster relief

After cuts to AgriStability five years ago, then Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Doug Chorney predicted “AgriStability will be losing support… from farmers because it really has got to be questionable if you’ll ever see a payment.” He was right. Participation is down. In 2013, there were 7,015 Manitoba farmers enrolled in the federal-provincial ‘business

Ottawa announced details of CETA assistance

Transition programs will assist farmers adapt to an expected influx of European cheese

With the European free trade deal CETA set to launch next month, Ottawa is smoothing out a few wrinkles. The federal government has backed down a bit in a dispute with the European Union over the allocation of new tariff-free cheese imports. It also said it would start accepting applications Aug. 22 from dairy farmers