It took a few seconds for Bill Plunz to find the right way to describe this year’s wild rice harvest. “I guess dismal is a reasonable word to use,” said the general manager of La Ronge Wild Rice Corp. Gerry Ivanochko, northern agriculture specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, had similar phrasing. “It’s the worst ever,” he […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
New GM canolas in pipeline
Monsanto has consummated two business deals that it hopes will bring two new genetically modified canola lines to market. The company has announced partnerships with two smaller biotech firms to commercialize a high yielding GM canola and another that requires less nitrogen to grow. “It really looks like they could be breakthrough technologies,” said Mike […] Read more
Bean crop bad in Man.
After a year in which they lost half of their crop, many Manitoba bean growers entered the 2005 season thinking things couldn’t get any worse. They were wrong. Unprecedented June rains in many parts of southern Manitoba drowned hopes of a recovery. “I would suspect that there would be 20-30 percent of an average crop,” […] Read more
Manitoba government blamed for lagging on flood repairs
The floodwaters dissipated long ago but the havoc caused by excessive summer rains in Manitoba is far from being water under the bridge, according to the provincial pulse grower group. Culverts are plugged, ditches need to be dredged and there has to be an all-out effort to repair the entire drainage network, but nothing is […] Read more
EU considers organic extension
Canadian organic growers could have plenty to give thanks for this October. That’s when members of the European Union’s agriculture council are scheduled to decide whether to extend a Dec. 31, 2005, equivalency deadline for another year. If, as expected, the proposal is approved, it would give Canada’s 3,000 organic farmers some breathing room to […] Read more
Lots of lentils look for market
This would be a nice lentil harvest if exporters had two years to sell it, say crop analysts. Growers produced 1.2 million tonnes of lentils in 2005, double the average of what was harvested the previous four years. A carry-in of 245,000 tonnes from the previous marketing year is compounding the problem, which will result […] Read more
Food aid policy is threating exports: CSCA
TORONTO – Canada has taken international aid a step too far, says a senior representative of the special crops industry. “We totally endorse a foreign aid policy where you are helping people grow food to feed their nation,” said Francois Catellier, executive director of the Canadian Special Crops Association. However, he draws the line when […] Read more
Dispute with India drags on
TORONTO – A tiny, insignificant pest continues to hamper a $100 million trade with Canada’s largest pea customer. Nineteen months ago India surprised the world by insisting pulse imports be certified free of certain pests and placed an additional onus on exporters to fumigate shipments with methyl bromide. The plant quarantine order sent the Canadian […] Read more
Special crops acreage all over map
TORONTO – The crop update for the special crops industry could aptly be titled, The Good, the Not-Bad-At-All and the Ugly. Production prospects are fantastic in Alberta and Saskatchewan but have taken a beating in Manitoba, according to a panel of experts speaking at the Canadian Special Crops Association’s 19th annual convention. Agricore United special […] Read more
North Americans to see pulse hard sell
TORONTO – Canada has had tremendous success selling pulse crops to 155 countries around the world but when it comes to its own backyard, marketing efforts have been uninspiring, officials say. Pulse Canada intends to change that by spending millions of dollars devising a strategy to crack the lucrative North American market. Although details have […] Read more
