Indian farmers will harvest 13.67 million tonnes of pulses in 2004-05, down 10 percent from last year’s total, according to a report from that country’s ministry of agriculture. While that falls 1.6 million tonnes short of what the government had targeted for pulse production, it presents Canada with little market opportunity, say analysts. First, the […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Price signals not there for pulse crops: analyst
Farmers don’t have the usual price signals to rely on when making 2005 spring planting decisions for pulse and special crops, says a market analyst. New crop contracts were scarce at this year’s Crop Production Week in Saskatoon, an event that usually acts as a launching pad for deals between special crop buyers and sellers. […] Read more
Costs hold steady but income dips
Provincial agriculture departments are starting to release their 2005 crop planning guides and if farmers squint hard, they can find a nugget of good news in the documents Ñ crop input prices are forecast to remain fairly static. Farmers may face higher costs for certain inputs but when all variable costs are totalled, their bills […] Read more
Farmers want payment for carbon credits
A growing chorus of farm groups is calling on the federal government to implement a carbon credit trading system as the heat is turned up on the Kyoto Accord file. The greenhouse gas reductions treaty becomes legally binding on Feb. 16 and, according to a recent report published in the Globe and Mail newspaper, Canada […] Read more
Organics seek unity
A move is afoot for organic growers and traders to join the ranks of other commodity groups by establishing a national organization. The proposed new body, which is expected take shape at a fall organic summit, should provide a unified voice to what has been a highly fragmented industry. “We need to react to issues […] Read more
Cargill, Dow scrap over specialty canola oil
Two grain industry behemoths are duking it out over who will be the new oil baron. Cargill and Dow AgroSciences are embroiled in a series of legal battles over which company invented high oleic canola oil, a product both firms believe will take the food industry by storm. At stake is the ownership claim to […] Read more
Sask. wants spring cash
Saskatchewan farmers are hoping for an Easter treat this spring. Representatives of 22 provincial commodity groups and farm organizations met with parliamentary agriculture secretary Wayne Easter last week to discuss ways to prop up chronically depressed farm incomes. They told the federal Liberal MP the first step is an immediate disaster assistance payment in time […] Read more
Trade action could hurt pulse growers
Canada may take retaliatory trade action against the United States that would have the unfortunate side-effect of doubling the price of seed for western Canadian bean producers. In a letter sent to International Trade Canada last month, Pulse Canada chair Jack Froese urged the federal government to drop U.S. pulses from a proposed list of […] Read more
Funds push pulse facility closer to target
Funding for a new pulse research facility is nearing completion with a sizable injection of cash from the federal government and a private chemical company. Federal finance minister Ralph Goodale announced last week that Western Economic Diversification Canada is contributing $750,000 to the laboratory already under construction at the University of Saskatchewan. It comes on […] Read more
Pulse crop markets unaffected by tsunami
Canadian pulse growers shouldn’t expect a tidal wave of demand stemming from tsunami aid heading to Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. Although Southeast Asia is the world’s leading pulse-consuming region, the crisis is expected to generate little if any additional exports of lentils, peas, beans and chickpeas, according to Canada’s largest private food aid […] Read more
