Allan Dawson

Reading Time: 2 minutes “We’re going to need the farmers to deliver during their busiest time – seeding.” – Mark Thibeault For once the stars have aligned in favour of farmers. Wheat exports from Canada are moving at a blistering pace while prices remain relatively strong. Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) grain movement since October has been well above the […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian wheat has some satisfied customers, according to a British buyer who spoke at a Canadian Wheat Board farm meeting in Manitoba this month. Gary Sharkey is head of wheat procurement for Premier Foods, one the largest food companies in the United Kingdom, with holdings that include Rank Hovis, the nation’s biggest flour miller and […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes “Nobody has done that analysis. The minister himself told me they haven’t done it in their department, which is kind of strange.” The Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) will stop grading grain at Western Canadian country elevators, even if it’s being exported directly to the United States, starting Aug. 1, 2009. Critics say it fits with […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes BANFF Kyle durum wheat, the most popular durum grown in the West between 1988 and 2005, was named Seed of the Year for Western Canada at the recent Prairie Grain Development Committee annual meeting. Kyle and its developer, Fred Townley-Smith, a retired Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) plant breeder, were recognized Feb. 25. The first […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes “We need to make sure security actually provides security for farmers.” – Gerry Ritz Farmers were fully compensated in most cases Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz told a radio interviewer earlier this month that existing Canadian Grain Commission security provisions for grain companies that fail don’t work and should be scrapped. In an interview with Golden […] Read more

Reading Time: 4 minutes BANFF An unprecedented nine new wheats eligible for the top Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) class were recommended for registration during this year’s Prairie Grain Development Committee’s annual meeting, thanks in part to farmer-funded research. “It was a pretty strong showing (this year) for CWRS wheat,” said Graham Worden, the Canadian Wheat Board’s senior manager […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes “The dream that we could just pull things off the shelves and put them in the co-op (trial) and have high yield potential was just that – a dream.” BANFF Kernel Visual Distinguishability was pushed into an early grave last August to clear the way for new developments in high-yielding wheat suitable for livestock feed […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes “(The amendments are intended to) only regulate where necessary and to devolve programs or services that would be appropriately provided by the private sector…” – Jim Smolik, Cgc Commissioner Call it “Plan B.” With the Conservative government’s Bill C-13 proposing to reduce the role of the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) […] Read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes “The CWB can’t hedge the basis (difference between cash and futures prices) so that’s what the contingency fund is for.” – Larry Hill Canadian Wheat Board chair Larry Hill is so confident in the way the CWB managed its contingency fund and resulting deficit he’s inviting federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser and Agriculture Minister Gerry […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute The CWB’s contingency fund started the 2007-08-crop year with a surplus of $9.2 million and ended with a net deficit of $86.4 million. The CWB reduced the deficit to $28.9 million for the start of the current crop year. Here are the details on how that was done (amounts in millions of dollars): $9.2 contingency […] Read more