Roberta Rampton

Clovers Prices are strong following two years of poor yields and dropping acreage. But if production picks up, low prices will follow. Markets are shrinking as more winter wheat growers in Ontario and the United States double-crop or seed early maturing spring wheat after harvest. Proprietary contracts provide some stability. “The clover business is probably […] Read more

Moribund. Silent. Lifeless. Nearly dead. One-sided. Collapsing out of boredom. For the past few months, Brian Clancey has stretched for adjectives to describe the almost nonexistent trade in feed pea futures at the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange in a daily summary he sends to his subscribers. But the futures contract, and Clancey, may soon be put […] Read more

The death knell had long ago sounded, but the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange ended speculation about the future of its feed pea futures when in December it started pulling off the furthest-out months of contracts. Pending regulatory approval, May 1999 will be the last month traded before the exchange switches to a new field pea futures […] Read more

Manitoba’s agriculture critic is hitting the road to find out how poor commodity prices are hurting the rural economy. “We have to get together different farm groups … into one room and work toward a common goal,” said Rosann Wowchuk, NDP MLA for Swan River. Wowchuk planned forums in seven towns from Jan. 20 to […] Read more

Why has the federal government cut funding to its agricultural research centre at Morden, Man.? Awaiting his answer, 10 pairs of eyes settled on John Harvard, chair of the House of Commons agriculture committee. The question did not come from a hard-nosed reporter or angry farmer. The question came from Janelle Sprung, 17, who Harvard […] Read more

A program designed to allow farmers to quickly withdraw money during tough times from the Net Income Stabilization Account failed to attract much interest in 1998. Only 1,600 Canadian farmers took advantage of the interim withdrawal program, receiving $32.3 million from their accounts. When the farm income crisis emerged last fall, the NISA administration had […] Read more

Prairie farmers produce more high quality wheat than customers will pay for, according to a new report by the Canadian Wheat Board. In the next decade, farmers might find their bottom lines are better when they grow lower-protein, higher-yielding wheat. The report might surprise some people, said Larry Sawatzky, the market analyst with the wheat […] Read more

Canadian grown pulse crops are so popular in some South American countries that they have caused producers there to switch to other crops. And there is room to build the existing market and add new crops such as chickpeas, said Gildardo Silva, a pulse marketer with Walker Seeds of Star City, Sask. Silva told the […] Read more

Canadian Wheat Board number crunchers took a look in the crystal ball to project what world wheat trade will look like in 2007-8. Here’s what they expect: World trade will rise to 118 million tonnes from its recent average of 101 million tonnes. Ten percent of this will be high-quality wheat. Canada will keep its […] Read more

A University of Manitoba instructor is puzzled by a strange weed found last summer in canola fields southeast of Winnipeg. Gary Martens is hoping to hear from other farmers who have spotted purplish weeds that look like a cross between mustard and canola and do not seem to be killed by Muster or other Group […] Read more