Roberta Rampton

Most farmers were too busy, too skeptical or perhaps too bullish to sign up for new pricing options for wheat and feed barley with the Canadian Wheat Board this year. That’s too bad, say market analysts, who believe farmers missed a good chance to manage some of their cash flow and price risk. In September, […] Read more

Ed Tyrchneiwicz, John Whitaker and Nick Carter spent their summer listening to Manitobans’ views on the livestock industry. They had originally planned to give the government a list of recommendations by the end of October on how to expand the livestock industry without harming the environment. But the writing stage is taking longer than anticipated, […] Read more

Wendy Anderson’s voice shook as she read out a list of her family’s and neighbors’ health problems to the TV cameras and reporters in a downtown Winnipeg boardroom. Afterwards, she and husband Jim confided they would rather be at home on their farm near Tilston, Man., than facing the glare of the public spotlight. “It’s […] Read more

While the concept of a regional railway appeals to some prairie farmers and shippers, the politics and mechanics involved in current proposals are daunting. “It’s not going to be easy,” said John Edsforth, transportation consultant with Travacon Research Ltd. Edsforth studied the feasibility of a regional railway in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and prepared a report […] Read more

When world stocks dwindle, wheat farmers usually reap higher prices. But for the past year, world wheat markets have defied that trend. Stocks are among the lowest in two decades, but prices have been lacklustre. That’s because the world’s five major exporters have been holding most of those stocks, said market analyst Don Bonner, who […] Read more

The debate over the future of farming needs to be broadened to include the future of rural communities, said the head of an American rural think-tank. Farm policy does not necessarily make for good rural policy, said Mark Drabenstott, director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Centre for the Study of Rural America. […] Read more

A group of American farmers has taken a page from mutual funds to market their grain. About 400 corn, soybean, wheat, rice and cotton farmers have signed up more than 15 million bushels this year to a farmer-owned marketing co-operative designed to manage price risk. CoMark, which stands for Co-operative Marketing Alliance, bills itself as […] Read more

A new agricultural model is gradually emerging in North America that will see alliances formed between farmers, research partners and end users, a banking conference was told last week. Brian Hayward, chief executive officer of United Grain Growers, told a banking conference Oct. 2-3 that these alliances will be formed to create products, rather than […] Read more

Times have been tough for bankers as well as farmers and agricultural businesses, a group of American and Canadian bankers were told last week. “People don’t always love us,” said Michael Pedersen, chair of the Canadian Bankers Association, alluding to the public furor over proposed mergers between the largest Canadian banks. But some at the […] Read more

Fear about genetically modified food has not reached the same fevered pitch in Canada as it has in Europe, but more Canadians oppose GM food than did a year ago, according to research done by Unilever Canada, makers of Lipton products and Becel margarine. Last summer, Canadians were evenly split on the issue of GM […] Read more