Kraft Lecture Timely

“He would have been impressed with the quality of the presentation and the quality of the questions.” – brian oleson University of Manitoba students too young to have learned from the late Daryl Kraft as a professor nevertheless felt his influence last week at the inaugural lecture series established in his memory. “This is something

Obama Pledges To Lower Farm Subsidies

President Barack Obama’s pledge to cut subsidies to big U. S. farm businesses falls short of the cuts needed to revive mor ibund world trade talks, proponents of an expanded global trade agreement said Feb. 25. “Anything that would reduce payments to farmers in the U. S. would be looked on favour-ably by the rest


California Farms Lose Main Water Source To Drought

California’s main source of irrigation water is expected to go dry this year for most of its growers due to drought, idling at least 60,000 workers and up to one million acres of farmland, federal officials and experts said Feb. 20. The zero allocation for most of the farmers who buy water from the federally

Grain Prices Uncertain Amid Global Economic Turmoil

Bewildered farmers may well be wondering what caused the global financial crisis and what the future holds for commodity prices. Analysts discussing the topic at this week’s GrainWorld conference in Winnipeg couldn’t offer much by way of answers. While the world faces a big recession with no quick recovery, the feeling was grain prices will


World food system exploits consumers: activist

Raj Patel held up a Snickers bar, examined the list of ingredients and proclaimed it the key to understanding the world’s food system. The list included cocoa, likely from the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer and an employer of child labour. It also included lecithin, an emulsifier made from soybean oil, found in

World food security needs collaboration

It is interesting to see how the current financial crisis is changing the way that we think about the world. This point was driven home for me when I had the opportunity to attend a symposium last week in Berkeley, Calif. entitled “Causes and Consequences of the Food Price Crisis.” Sponsored by the Giannini Foundation,