Roberta Rampton

The sinking Canadian dollar is generally hailed as being good for exporters. Although farmers are exporters, they also rely on some imports of machinery, fertilizer and fuel. Those who recently ordered machinery parts from across the border are feeling the first sting in what some predict will be a swarm of higher prices for agricultural […] Read more

Prices for farm inputs haven’t jumped noticeably since the Canadian dollar started plunging this spring. But here’s what some people in the industry expect may happen as time unfolds. Fuel Canadian fuel prices may have risen relative to American prices, said Lorne Henry. But meanwhile, crude oil prices keep dropping, balancing the impact, said Henry, […] Read more

DUFROST, Man. – The Millenni Egg Corp. barn echoes with the whine of drills as workers put the final touches on towering rows of steel cages eight storeys high and 162 metres long. On Sept. 7, it will fill with the cacophony of 150,000 hens owned by a dozen producers. “If they’re happy, they sing,” […] Read more

Problems in the world economy pushed price forecasts for some types of wheat and barley lower last week. The latest monthly pool return outlook from the Canadian Wheat Board for the 1998-99 crop lowered forecasts for mid- to lower-quality wheats by $1 to $6 per tonne. Overall, world production of wheat is lower this year. […] Read more

Earlier this summer, prairie farmers appeared to be on their way to growing a record canola crop. However, analysts believe hot weather during August killed any record potential by drying up yields. And the shaky world financial situation affecting commodities, currencies and stocks has been withering the price potential for the crop. Last week, Statistics […] Read more

If there was one bright spot in the oat market last week, it was that Can-Oat Milling expanded its flaking operations at its plant in Portage la Prairie, Man. The $3.5 million expansion should give farmers the assurance that Can-Oat will be in the market for the long term, said the company’s executive vice-president. “We’ve […] Read more

Supply managed sectors, organized decades ago to serve the domestic market in defiance of world prices and supplies, have decided to sail into the largely uncharted waters of export markets. The new world trade agreement signed in 1995 changed Canada’s ability to protect the supply managed industry and opened the door to exports. Encouraged by […] Read more

In the past year, Peter Dowling could do something never before possible in his 25 years of dairy farming. The Gananoque, Ont., farmer could sell milk outside his regular quota to a processor planning export sales. It was not a violation of the regulated milk supply managed system which he supports. His provincial dairy board […] Read more

Howard Hilstrom can’t understand how dairy, poultry and egg industries will be able to defend exporting products at a lower price than they charge in Canada. “The supply managed sectors cannot have it both ways,” said Hilstrom, a Manitoba MP and the Reform party’s agricultural critic. He said export plans assume Canadian consumers will subsidize […] Read more

The pungent, sterile smell of pasteurization fills the Winnipeg plant of Canadian Inovatech Inc., Canada’s largest egg exporter. Here, equipment separates yolks from whites, making the kind of dried and liquid egg products that typically are traded on world markets. But they also extract enzymes for food and pharmaceuticals, a high-end, value-added Asian and European […] Read more