The Canadian Grain Commission has developed a new web-based tool to help farmers identify pests in stored grain. It’s available at www.grainscanada.gc.ca, and allows producers to use insect keys to determine the species of an insect found in stored grain. To identify an insect, producers choose the more accurate of two options that describe an […] Read more
Brian Cross
Stories by Brian Cross
Wheat protein levels down according to CGC’s harvest sample program
Wheat samples submitted to the Canadian Grain Commission’s harvest sample program are confirming what industry has been predicting for weeks: protein levels in this year’s wheat crop will be lower than last year’s. CGC’s preliminary report on durum quality released Oct. 1 shows mean protein levels in No. 1 CWAD at 11.5 percent. That number […] Read more
BioExx files for creditor protection
A Canadian company that developed a patented process to extract concentrated food-grade protein from canola has been granted creditor protection by an Ontario court. Toronto-based BioExx and its Saskatoon-based subsidiary BioExx Proteins applied Oct. 1 for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved the application earlier […] Read more
CGC issues first preliminary quality report on durum crop
The Canadian Grain Commission has released its first preliminary quality report on this year’s Western Canadian durum crop. Based on early producer returns to the CGC’s harvest sample program, mean protein in No. 1 CWAD from southwestern Saskatchewan stood at 11.5 percent. That number was based on 82 samples received prior to Oct. 1. Mean […] Read more
Cool, wet weather tosses wrench into combines’ feederhouses
Rain throughout much of Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba during the last week of September has idled combines in many parts of the Canadian prairies. Farmers will likely experience downgrades in some unharvested crops, especially wheat and barley. More rain was in the forecast for much of Saskatchewan’s northern grain belt on Oct. 1-2. Widespread generalized […] Read more
New freight service planned for B.C. rail line
Canadian National Railway plans to launch a new freight service on 150 kilometres of track in central British Columbia. CN announced Sept 26 that it will offer service on track that was previously operated by bankrupt short-line company Kelowna Pacific Railway. KPR entered an agreement to lease the rail facilities from CN in 1999. A […] Read more
CP to close test centre in Calgary
Canadian Pacific Railway will close its Locomotive Reliability Centre at Alyth Yard in Calgary. The closure will result in the elimination of 130 local jobs, the company announced last month. CP’s decision is the result of a Canadian Transportation Agency order directing the railway to stop load testing and idling operations in proximity to the […] Read more
CWB starts privatization with equity offer to prairie farmers
Equity for grain Farmers would receive $5 equity in the company for every tonne they sell
The former Canadian Wheat Board has taken its first steps toward privatization. It has unveiled a two-pronged plan that includes establishing a network of grain handling facilities across Western Canada and promising prairie farmers an equity stake in the soon-to-be privatized company. Gord Flaten, CWB’s vice-president of grain procurement, said farmers across Western Canada will […] Read more
Glencore sells Viterra pasta plant to cereal maker
Another asset formerly owned by Viterra is being sold off by Swiss commodity trader Glencore Xstrata. Glencore confirmed today that is selling Dakota Growers Pasta Company in North Dakota to Post Holdings Inc. for $370 million. Post, a St. Louis, Missouri, based cereal maker whose products include Honeycomb, Alpha Bits, Raisin Bran and Shreddies, said […] Read more
Publicly funded breeding delivers value: report
Yield improvements exceed world average | Reduction in funding for public breeding programs reckless, says scientist
Wheat yields on western Canadian farms have increased at an average rate of 1.4 percent per year since the early 1990s, says a study co-authored by a pair of Agriculture Canada scientists. That rate of gain is well above the worldwide average of 1.16 percent per year, suggesting Canadian farmers have accrued greater gains in […] Read more
