Canada - U.S. border crossing

Everything you ever wanted to know about shipping grain to the U.S.

Online publication includes info on weight restrictions, phytosanitary certificates and more

Canadian and American grain companies have a new resource to assist them when buying or transhipping grain to or through each other’s countries. The goal is to expedite grain trading between the two nations and beyond following the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk. “We’ve seen all sorts of border challenges in other

alfalfa

Will it or won’t it? Producers discuss Roundup Ready alfalfa

Customer preferences should count when assessing new technology

It’s become a perennial issue for forage seed growers. Will or won’t Roundup Ready alfalfa be released in Canada? The question loomed large at the Manitoba Forage Seed Association’s annual conference in Winnipeg last week, where the issue was raised no less than four times. “We basically feel that there isn’t a need for it,


Fuel-efficiency and the tarsands last gasp

The Jacksons, from the Jan. 15, 2015 issue of the Manitoba Co-operator

So I see you drove over here Andrew,” said Grant Toews as he leaned back in his chair and picked up his cup of coffee to take a drink. “Three blocks too long of a walk for you? Or did you just not want to put on your warm socks this morning?” Andrew Jackson looked

railway cars

The little railway that could

Boundary Trails Railway Co. had a record year in a year of epic railway snags

Southern Manitoba’s Boundary Trails Railway Company (BTRC) had geography on its side last year, more than tripling the number of cars it handled. The 38-km short line, which runs from Morden to Binney Corner just west of Manitou, handled 619 grain cars in the 2013-14 shipping year. The company is owned by 90 shareholders, mostly


Storm systems staying away

Issued: Monday, Dec. 8, 2014 – Covering: Dec. 10 – Dec. 17, 2014

As usual for this time of the year, the general weather pattern played out as expected, but differences in the strength of the systems, along with the overall track, ended up impacting the longer-range forecast — at least a little bit. Arctic high pressure moved in as expected behind last weekend’s low and, as predicted,

1974 advertisement for a phone answering machine

A “black year” for Canadian grain shipments

Our History: November 1974

You could lease this automatic telephone answering machine advertised for $28.30 per month ($131.47 in 2014 dollars) in our Nov. 28, 1974 issue. The editorial that week talked about a “black year” for Canadian grain shipments. Our front page reported yet another strike, this time by grain inspectors. This followed strikes by Great Lakes vessel


one dollar banknote among wheat grains

Editorial: The cure for high grain prices is…

When you get right down to it, covering grain markets is kind of like sports reporting. Depending on your perspective, the outcome at the end of the day is either win, lose or tie. There’s only so many ways to describe that, just as there are only so many ways to describe why the market

cow eating hay

Editorial: Foraging for a national voice

Just four years since its inception, the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association is struggling after losing the support of the sector that arguably benefits the most from its activities. Eighty per cent of Canada’s beef production depends on forages as the main feed source. Of the $5.1 billion of economic activity forages contribute to the


meat aisle in grocery store

U.S. appeals latest WTO ruling on COOL

Retaliatory tariffs are now delayed

Canada will have to wait up to three more months before it can impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods over Washington’s mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law on meat from imported livestock. The U.S. government filed a notice of appeal Nov. 28 against the latest ruling by a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel, which last

man speaking at a conference

China still an important factor

Exports remain key to Canada’s commodity sector as prices fall back to earth

Profits on grains and oilseeds might be down, but it’s no reason to panic. Speaking at Farm Management Canada’s Agriculture Excellence conference in Winnipeg, Farm Credit Canada’s chief economist said the high prices of recent years were never destined to become the new normal. “The sky is not falling, it’s not falling at all,” J.P.