Reading Time: 4 minutes Now that they’ve achieved their goal of ending the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly, the Western Canadian Wheat Growers are training their sights on their next target — the Canadian wheat registration system. In a recent advertisement the WCWGA says farmers should have access to higher-yielding varieties to meet the demand for mid-quality or feed/ethanol markets, […] Read more
Are U.S. varieties higher yielding?
Grains institute appoints more farmers to its board
Governance With farmers paying part of the funding, the institute says it’s important to get them more involved
Reading Time: 2 minutes Three Prairie farmers have been appointed to the Canadian International Grains Institute’s six-member board, just one of many changes to the institute in the wake of the Canadian Wheat Board end of its sales monopoly Aug. 1. Cigi, which teaches customers how to use Canadian crops, was founded in 1972 by the wheat board and […] Read moreFeds clarify barley commission’s role in checkoff collection
Concern Initial document implied that Alberta could control funding for projects in other provinces
Reading Time: 3 minutes 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. The clarification follows concern in Manitoba that the ABC would have authority to allocate Prairie-wide funds collected under the new […] Read moreBigger freight bill on the tracks
Reading Time: 3 minutes Get ready to dig a little deeper to ship this year’s harvest to export ports. The Canadian Transportation Agency has approved a hefty 9.5 per cent raise in the revenue cap, which is the maximum railways can earn from shipping grain, a boost that could cost farmers an extra $87 million or about $3 per […] Read more
Bigger seed changes the canola seeding equation
Reading Time: 2 minutes The best chance for maximizing canola yields is a plant population of eight to 10 plants per square foot and a minimum of five throughout the growing season, says Doug Moisey, an extension agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada. “Typically when you have four to five plants per square foot or higher your yield […] Read more
Appeal Court hearing set in CWB case
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Federal Court ruling that found Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz broke the Canadian Wheat Board Act last fall, will be heard by the Federal Court of Appeal in Ottawa May 23. If the ruling is upheld Stewart Wells, a former wheat board director and member of the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (FCWB), expects […] Read more
Constitution expert says FCWB has a good chance of winning in court
Reading Time: 2 minutes There’s a good possibility that the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board will win its case, according to Peter Russell, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto. “The wheat board is pretty well dismantled, but I think it (the legal challenge) has quite a chance of success,” Russell, one Canada’s leading experts […] Read more
Rail shippers see silver lining in Dinning process
Legislate The railways wouldn’t agree to service agreements, so shippers want Ottawa to legislate
Reading Time: 3 minutes That’s because it clearly demonstrates federal legislation is required to make it happen. “The Dinning process has done a great job informing the next stage, which is drafting legislation,” Cherewyk, one of two officials representing agricultural shippers during the Dinning process, said in an interview May 3. “By not establishing an agreement on the mandatory […] Read moreCP Rail says it can’t move whole crop off the combine
Maybe not Contrary to suggestions, you may have to start your auger next winter after all
Reading Time: 2 minutes This just in — the railways won’t move Western Canada’s entire wheat crop off the combine this fall. “To use a cliché in building the church for Easter Sunday, there’s a reality that it’s a seasonal business and we’re responsive on a seasonal basis to the business,” Steve Whitney, CP Rail’s vice-president of marketing and […] Read moreRitz promises “common- sense” fishery regulations
Excessive Farm groups and municipalities complain current federal protection hinders even simple ditch and culvert maintenance
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa says new legislation will mean less meddling in Prairie affairs by fisheries officials. While the announcement was welcomed by municipalities and farmers fed up with red tape for simple drainage and other waterway projects, environmental groups say the proposals declare open season on all non-commercial fish habitat. The Conservative government wants to take “a […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
