Port group to close as CWB monopoly ends

The 103-year-old organization that co-ordinates shipments through Canada’s two biggest grain-shipping ports is winding down, saying it may not be needed once the Canadian Wheat Board loses its monopoly. The Winnipeg-based Canadian Ports Clearance Association (CPCA) will cease operations this summer on Aug. 31, one month after the wheat board loses control over Western Canada’s



Dairy farmers shoot back at critics

With their system of revenue under renewed jabs from various angles, Canada’s dairy farmers have compiled their retorts into a new online campaign. Dairy Farmers of Canada on Feb. 1 launched a website dubbed YourMilk.ca, which organizes the case for the country’s dairy industry into three sections: one on the industry’s benefits to the public,

CWB boosts wheat and malting barley initials

Prairie malting barley growers can expect to see an extra $51.90 per tonne in the next few weeks for their 2011-12 deliveries. The barley adjustment payment, expected to flow by direct deposit on Feb. 21 and by cheques in the mail starting Feb. 24, is on the list of increased initial payments effective Feb. 9,


Dry winter a worry for cattle, winter wheat

Canada’s western farm belt is the driest it has been in five years, raising concerns for cattle and winter cereals. Large pockets of the Prairie provinces have received less than 40 per cent of normal precipitation during the past three months, according to federal Agriculture Department maps. “We have a lot of winter ahead of

Dry winter a worry for cattle, winter wheat

Canada’s western farm belt is the driest it has been in five years, raising concerns for cattle and winter cereals. Large pockets of the Prairie provinces have received less than 40 per cent of normal precipitation during the past three months, according to federal Agriculture Department maps. “We have a lot of winter ahead of

Viterra To Resell Esso Fuels On Canadian Prairies

REUTERS / Viterra Inc., Canada s biggest grain handler, said on Nov. 8 that it has bought Imperial Oil s commercial and farm fuels distribution business in the Prairie provinces. Viterra, which already owns the country s biggest network of country grain elevators, along with port terminals, processing plants and farm retail outlets, will resell


Canada Farm Terminals See Unsure Fate After Wheat Board

With only old, wooden elevators to buy crops around Unity, Saskatchewan, farmers like Mervin Slater banded together in 1993 to sell shares and build a modern grain terminal. The towering concrete and steel facility is one of nearly a dozen farmer-run grain terminals to spring up on the Canadian Prairies since the 1990s, offering farmers

Apples And Oranges Add Up To Bananas

We ve observed over time that it s become increasingly difficult for civil servants to maintain that blurry distinction between policy and politics. But there can be no question that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has crossed the line with its marketing freedom website. It was undoubtedly pushed, but the result is the same. There can