The Canadian cereals industry is united in reaching out to international customers. The 2016 Canadian Wheat New Crop Missions ran for seven weeks from the beginning of November to mid-December. The sessions kicked off Nov. 10 with a seminar for Canadian millers, the largest buyer of Canadian wheat. The missions are expected to reach customers […] Read more
Author Archives
Keep customer in mind when combining
Warren Buffet once quipped, “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” This is something worth thinking about as we start to prepare for harvest. Canada has a strong reputation for consistently delivering safe, high-quality grain to our customers both […] Read more
Getting our research priorities right
Saskatoon recently hosted a meeting of some of the most important minds in Canadian wheat research. A workshop was held that included public and private researchers from across Canada, farmers from coast to coast and Canadian exporters. Our goal was to move forward on the development of key priorities for Canadian wheat research. Why is […] Read more
Research, innovation key to future
One of the oldest clichés in agriculture might be that “research and innovation are the keys to our future.” However, just because it is a cliché does not mean it is not true. The federal election is over and Canada has a new government. Agriculture lobby groups from every region will be asking them to […] Read more
Branding wheat may expand markets
What do customers want when they buy Canadian wheat? Cereals Canada and the Canadian International Grains Institute recently commissioned market research firm LMC International to answer this question. Farmers should care about the answer because it will impact their future bottom line, and their check-off dollars may be going to go to support the industry’s […] Read more
Trans-Pacific Partnership: deal or no deal?
It is a bit hard to tell, but Canada is part of one of the largest trade negotiations that have ever taken place. Hard to tell because not many seem to want to talk about it. Canadian reaction to the negotiations seems a bit like a five-year-old putting his hands over his eyes and hoping […] Read more
It’s time for free trade inside Canada
I was in a Tokyo liquor store the other day (I don’t have many opportunities to say that) and came across a bottle of Single Malt Canadian Vodka. The box contained the logo of Ducks Unlimited, showcasing the Canadian industry’s strong environmental record. Kudos to the small distillery in British Columbia that is bringing this […] Read more
Canadian wheat not in decline: officials
The Western Producer recently published comments from an international grain broker that led the paper to ask the question, “is Canadian wheat in decline?” We are pleased to answer that question with an unequivocal “no.” In fact, it is quite the reverse. The wide-ranging comments brought up questions on logistics, grain grading and return to […] Read more
Industry consensus: what is it good for?
Policy debates often centre around the word “consensus,” bandying it about like a sword in battle. Well-reasoned arguments and debates are habitually dispatched with the phrase, “there was no consensus on that.” But what does consensus really mean? The dictionary tells us that consensus means a general agreement, but the definition is vague regarding the […] Read more
Sustainability is not a four letter word
A national pollster once told me that “Canadians really like farmers, but they don’t always like what farmers do.” He followed that up by noting that the second half of the statement was the more important part, which is the agriculture industry’s responsibility to address the misinformation circulating about modern day farming. Unfortunately, misinformation is […] Read more
