AAFC clarifies checkoff administrator’s authority

The federal government plans to sign an agreement with the Alberta Barley Commission to dictate how farmers’ money collected from the proposed new interim wheat and barley checkoff for research and market development is spent. “ABC and AAFC (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) intend to enter into an agreement that will specify what dollars-per-tonne amounts that

KAP questions checkoff administrator

The Keystone Agricultural Producers is miffed over a federal decision to appoint the Alberta Barley Commission as administrator for the new interim checkoff on western wheat and barley. “I can’t see why KAP couldn’t have handled it or why the Canola Growers or Corn Growers couldn’t,” KAP president Doug Chorney said in an interview last


Province supports improved flood forecasting

swan river, man. / The province will support a volunteer-based snow- and rainfall-monitoring network called the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) in Manitoba, which will provide more accurate and timely weather data to enhance flood forecasting, Premier Greg Selinger announced April 27. “Manitoba is always looking for ways to improve flood forecasting

New marketing campaign to promote Prairie-grown fruits

Customers at U-picks and fruit stands this summer will spot colourful reminders about why they’re buying those raspberries, strawberries and other locally grown fruits. The Prairie Fruit Growers Association in Manitoba is launching a new fruit-branding program in a joint venture with growers in Saskatchewan and Alberta. “It’s the Taste” is the slogan growers in

Firefighters responding to more diverse calls than ever before

It was the kind of heavy-handed knock on the door no one wants to hear, that told Donna Stewart a forest fire was closing in on her home. “I was terrified,” said the 65-year-old retiree, one of more than a dozen people evacuated after fire threatened the community of Badger this May. “By the time


The Brand X elevator and corporate control of the food supply

The potential for contracted acres to be linked to herbicide and fertilizer purchases as well as point of delivery was already there

When Manitoba Pool Elevators and the Alberta Wheat Pool amalgamated in 1998 to become Agricore, I joked at the local watering hole that we really needed to invent an elevator sign that was Velcro backed. Even then, it was apparent that there was a lot of work involved in rebranding trade names on very tall

Wet on top, dry down below

Notoriously wet country looks to better grazing management to solve chronic water infiltration problems

Saskatchewan grazier Neil Dennis figures five centuries of continuous grazing has more to do with the drought affecting the British Isles than a lack of rainfall. “When you get 70 inches of rain, and the water table is dropping, there’s sure something wrong,” said Dennis, who just returned from a U.K. tour where he had

Hay is here, markets are there

The hay is here, it’s moving it that’s the problem. The Tyrchniewicz report found that the Manitoba and Saskatchewan forage industry has sufficient quality and quantities of forage for export markets, the spotty availability of up-to-date market intelligence and a lack of compressing, pelleting and cubing facilities hinders the export trade. Portage la Prairie and


Tax credits rise on wheat, barley

Staff / Wheat and barley growers whose money stayed in the Western Grains Research Foundation’s checkoff fund during 2011 can expect a relatively larger tax credit for their buck. Prairie growers — other than Alberta barley growers, who pay into a different checkoff fund — will see their WGRF checkoff money eligible for federal Scientific

CWB books $6 billion in revenues for 2010-11

Prairie wheat and barley growers saw payments of about $5.5 billion for their deliveries to the Canadian Wheat Board during the 2010-11 crop year. The CWB released its annual report for 2010-11 Feb. 21 showing $6.071 billion in combined pool revenue, with $3.792 billion paid out to pool participants, another $1.709 billion paid out through