PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Canada’s canola industry has set a goal to increase production to seven million tonnes by 2007. All indications point to the industry achieving that goal sooner than expected. JoAnne Buth, vice-president of crop production with the Canola Council of Canada, is forecasting a 2004-05 crop of 7.37-7.77 million tonnes, which is […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Mexico in market for canola
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Canadian canola exports to Mexico should approach record levels in the 2003-04 crop year. Mexican officials expect crushers will buy one million tonnes of Canadian product for their marketing year ending September 2004, matching a record set in 2000. Sales for the first four months have reached 500,000 tonnes, up 50 […] Read more
Speakers lambaste canola misinformation
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – The canola industry might be confusing its customers with technical mumbo jumbo and the introduction of a new product line. That concern was raised by marketing experts, scientists and delegates attending the Canola Council of Canada annual meeting in Puerto Vallarta. During a session on the last day of the conference, […] Read more
Hot topics aired
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Maybe it was the hot Mexican sun or maybe too much fiesta at the previous night’s banquet. Whatever the reason, canola industry participants unloaded at their recent annual meeting in Puerto Vallarta. The hot topics session at the Canola Council of Canada meeting saw a spirited debate on a number of […] Read more
Academics high on canola’s health benefits
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – The Canadian canola industry owes a debt of gratitude to the people of Crete, Greece. A 1960s study of men in seven countries uncovered a strange phenomenon in Cretan men – hardly any of them died from heart attacks. “There was something that the men were doing different in Crete that […] Read more
Plant planned to make canola plastic
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – A Canadian factory that converts canola into plastic and other industrial products is one step closer to reality. Researchers at the University of Alberta have secured $1 million in funding to build a small-scale testing facility where canola will be used to make automobile panels, bumpers and dashboards. “By the end […] Read more
Canola conference held in Mexico to show appreciation
Western Producer reporter Sean Pratt will file reports from the conference in Mexico next week. A good year for the canola industry is being capped off by a convention in Mexico, an event organizers insist is all about business, not pleasure. “Mexico is a major customer for Canadian canola,” said Canola Council of Canada communications […] Read more
India blocks pulses
Despite a small concession, Canada remains at odds with its largest pulse customer over a trade issue that could have dire consequences for the industry. Earlier this month, government and industry officials flew to Mumbai, India, to discuss with their counterparts a new requirement to fumigate Canadian shipments for three pests. “We achieved one of […] Read more
U.S. uses science as a weapon, says pulse group
American authorities have refused a shipment of Canadian beans containing trace amounts of a pesticide unregistered in the United States. The move upset Canadian pulse industry officials, who claim there is no justification for what they deem to be a trade action. “You have to call a spade a spade. This is not a health […] Read more
Pasta co-op seeks shares in U.S. plant
It’s round two for Prairie Pasta Producers on a couple of fronts. The new generation co-op is taking another crack at buying shares in an American pasta firm, which may prompt a second confrontation with the Canadian Wheat Board. Prairie Pasta has the option to buy three million D-series shares in Dakota Growers Pasta Co. […] Read more
