Reading Time: 2 minutes Just a trace of an unapproved genetically modified (GM) plant can close borders costing grain traders and farmers millions in lost sales, something Canada knows all too well. In 2009 flax exports to the European Union (EU) were disrupted after they were found to contain low levels of CDC Triffid, a GM flax approved in […] Read more
Canada Working On Low-Level GM Presence Policy
Farm group under fire from farmers over CWB stance
Mostly it has been farmers fighting the government over the Canadian Wheat Board’s future, now it’s farmer against farmer. Three western Manitoba producers paid for an inserted advertisement in the Manitoba Co-operator last week accusing the Keystone Agriculture Producers (KAP) of not working to save the Canadian Wheat Board and suggesting KAP members request their […] Read more
Can Ritz Deliver On His Promises?
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal government has promised western Canadian farmers they can have the Canadian Wheat Board and an open market too. Most farmers assume the only major change to the wheat board will be the loss of its monopoly over the sale of western Canadian wheat and barley destined for export or domestic human consumption. The […] Read more
Transition Report Rejects Regulation After CWB Changes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Let the market work. That s what the working group on the transition to an open market and voluntary Canadian Wheat Board says in a report released Sept. 28. The government should let the open market function and intervene only where necessary to address actual market failures, the report states. It says the government should […] Read more
CWB Stripped Of Cash Advance Program
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa has stripped the administration of wheat, durum and barley cash advances from the Canadian Wheat Board and transferred it to the Canadian Canola Growers Association. The government is taking clear and concise action so wheat, durum, and barley farmers have access to the Advance Payments Program without disruption, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in […] Read more
Grain Industry Needs Clarity Now On Pending Open Market
Reading Time: 3 minutes All the talk about an open market for wheat and barley as of Aug. 1, 2012 has both farmers and customers hungry for details on how it will work. That was the consensus of those attending the University of Manitoba s Fields on Wheels conference Sept. 29 in Winnipeg, said conference rapporteur Owen McAuley, a […] Read more
Manitoba’s KAP bows out of CWB fight
Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP), once a steadfast supporter of the Canadian Wheat Board, now accepts the board is going lose its single desk. Manitoba’s largest farm group now wants to ensure farmers benefit from the controversial change, says KAP president Doug Chorney. “We’re just facing the reality of the circumstances that we find ourselves in,” […] Read more
CWB Road Map Almost Ready
Reading Time: < 1 minute A road map for transitioning the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) to an open market will be in Agriculture Minister Ritz s hands soon. An Agriculture and Agri- Food Canada (AFFC) working group set up in July was to submit its report Sept. 15. Ritz had not received it as of Sept. 17, an official in […] Read more
If The CWB Goes, Is Supply Management Next?
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Conservative government s decision to end the Canadian Wheat Board s monopoly has supply management s critics in the media, business and academia sharpening their knives. Not surprisingly, the detractors are saying it s also time for an open market in milk, eggs, chicken and turkey. If marketing freedom and open markets are good […] Read more
Tips To Adjust Your Combine For Canola
Reading Time: 3 minutes Combining faster cuts costs, but can also result in higher grain losses, says Les Hill, manager of agricultural technical services at the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) in Humboldt, Sask. We know it s all balance, Hill said Sept. 9 during a webinar for the Canola Council of Canada on maximizing canola harvesting. When you […] Read more
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