Canadian farmers need to get back a piece of the Western Grain Transportation Act to control the costs of shipping grain, said an author of a report on Canada’s railways. “Each year the revenue cap gets indexed upward for inflation, but there’s no consideration taken of productivity changes,” said John Edsforth, who prepared a report […] Read more
Robert Arnason
Stories by Robert Arnason
Surprise snow hits western Manitoba
Western Manitoba was hit with a spring snowstorm last weekend, but the surprise dump of wet snow shouldn’t cause any flooding, said the province’s senior flood forecaster. “I don’t think it will make a whole lot of difference,” said Alf Warkentin of Manitoba Water Stewardship. What it means, he added, is that instead of a […] Read more
American report causes canola price to drop
The drop in oilseed prices following the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture acreage report is not simply a short-term reaction, says a Calgary analyst. Errol Anderson of Pro Market Communications expects this is part of a larger market-wide correction. “The markets are going to lose 30 to 40 percent of their value,” said […] Read more
U.S. winter wheat slowed by dry, cold
Cool weather in eastern Kansas has delayed development of the winter wheat crop but anything is better than last year. “We really didn’t have any wheat last year,” said Dean Stites, agriculture agent for the Kansas State University Extension Service in Crawford County. “We got a really bad freeze for three nights in a row […] Read more
Low flood potential in Red River Valley
Barring a major dump of snow, farmers in Manitoba’s flood-prone Red River Valley won’t have to dig out their hip waders this spring, says the province’s senior flood forecaster. “They shouldn’t be held up by flooding,” said Alf Warkentin, of the Manitoba water stewardship department. “I don’t think there will be any big surprises. The […] Read more
Canada’s claim to safest food doesn’t ring true, says expert
Canada’s pride in having ‘the safest food in the world’ is based on rhetoric, not fact, says a University of Manitoba professor. After examining the data on the frequency of food borne illness, Rick Holley found Canada’s frequency of E. coli infections was 2.5 people per 100,000 in 2007, double the rate of infection of […] Read more
Program collects data on food borne illness
A federal government pilot project in Waterloo, Ont., may provide part of the solution to Canada’s ‘passive’ food safety system. C-Enternet began work in 2005 on taking food borne illness surveillance to another level. The goal of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s program is to collect data on cases of salmonella poisoning and other […] Read more
Pork council withholds research contributions
The Manitoba Pork Council has responded to the ban on new hog barns in the province with its own “pause.” The council announced March 27 it would halt all of its research funding to “re-evaluate where (they) spend hog farmer’s money.” The council had budgeted $583,000 in producer contributions for research funding in 2008. “Why […] Read more
New $4 million centre to answer food questions
A Manitoba project is underway that is designed to educate urban kids who think cotton comes from sheep. Construction of the Glenlea Farm Education Centre – a one of a kind centre with a mandate of agricultural awareness and education – is set to begin this fall, about 10 km south of Winnipeg. “(We want) […] Read more
Oat price has peaked: analyst
Oat growers looking to lock in a price for their new crop should act now, because millers are already filling their quotas. “I just got off the phone with one of the mills and they’ve completely filled their new crop demand,” Randy Strychar, an oat market specialist with Ag Commodity Research, said last week. That […] Read more
