WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s time for America to end the food versus fuel debate, says U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack. Instead, he said the country needs to tackle a more important question: could double cropping produce enough grain and biomass to satisfy the demand for both ethanol and breakfast cereal? During an address to reporters […] Read more
Robert Arnason
Stories by Robert Arnason
Canada lacks strategy on agriculture: expert
In a decade or less, agriculture will no longer be synonymous with food production, says a chemical industry official. Instead, said Murray McLaughlin, president of the Sustainable Chemistry Alliance in Sarnia, Ont., it will be associated with chemical production, medicine, consumer goods and energy. He warned that Canada will be left behind the rest of […] Read more
Day has come for year round sheep breeding
Lamb demand has spiked in Canada over the last decade, thanks to a growing population of immigrants with an appetite for the meat. However, sheep farmers have struggled to satisfy this increasing market. The Canadian Sheep Federation estimates that Canadian farmers produce less than 50 percent of the lamb consumed in the country. The remaining […] Read more
Consumers shunning meat in the name of health
WINNIPEG – Like most burger joints in Canada, the lunch hour is a busy time at Boon Burger Café in Winnipeg. Every one of the 20 seats in the small restaurant is occupied and another six people wait in line, some impatiently, to place an order. But unlike many fast food restaurants, where the customers […] Read more
Manitoba flooding delays seeding
It might be the long winter, or the waiting for the Red River to crest, but farmers south of Winnipeg aren’t in a congenial mood this spring, says Ian Forrester of Letellier, Man. “Everybody is just bored and getting on each other’s nerves. We’re just fed up with it. We’ve had so much (flooding) in […] Read more
Experts disagree on speculators’ influence on ag prices
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Most hedge fund managers have little time and even less love for government regulations and oversight. But Michael Masters isn’t your typical hedge fund manager. Masters, founder and managing member of Masters Capital Management in the Virgin Islands, is adamant that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) needs to crack down […] Read more
U.S. economist fears land bubble may burst
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Cropland prices in Kansas jumped 20 percent from the last quarter of 2009 to the last quarter of 2010, 18 percent in Iowa and 23.7 percent in North Dakota. As a result, agricultural economist Jason Henderson can’t help wondering if there is a land price bubble in the Great Plains and the […] Read more
Flax marketers face uphill battle in India
It’s rarely easy to develop a market for a relatively unknown food product. But knowing what you’re up against is half the battle, said Kishor Sabnis, who is attempting to sell flax oil to consumers in India and other regions in Asia. Shape Foods, a flax processor in Brandon, has employed Sabnis to gain a […] Read more
Manitoba’s 2011 Hall of Fame choice joins familiar crowd
When Keith Smith is officially inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame this July, he should have no trouble fitting in, because the native of Oak Lake, Man., already knows most of the people in the elite club. “It’s funny. There’s 120 people in the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame and I knew or […] Read more
Increasing crop production top priority: U.S. ag secretary
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s time for America to end the food versus fuel debate, says U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack. Instead, the country needs to determine if double cropping can produce enough corn and other agricultural commodities to satisfy the demand for both ethanol and breakfast cereal? During an address to reporters attending the North […] Read more
