Crop Management
The Canadian Grain Commission is asking Ottawa to allow a sharp increase in cost-recovery fees to take effect April 1, 2012. If approved by government, it would cost farmers tens of millions of dollars in higher fees. In a July 8 interview, federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said he will wrestle with the question of […] Read more
Crop Management
CGC asks for major user fee increase
Churchill port can survive monopoly end
The company that owns the Port of Churchill said the loss of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on western Canadian grain sales will present challenges but nothing that can’t be overcome through discussions between stakeholders. Mike Ogborn, managing director of OmniTrax, said his company is preparing for what it considers an inevitable end to single-desk […] Read more
Monitor for signs of midge
Timing is everything and that goes for wheat midge too. Starting now, prairie producers need to be on the lookout for the insect pest. Combine this year’s high moisture with a series of normal heat unit days, and midge numbers could be high. The potential for economically damaging infestations to wheat crops is highest in […] Read more
Manitoba buckwheat acres shrink but Sask. climbs aboard
Marc Durand should net a tidy profit from his 210 acres of buckwheat if the weather is just right this summer. Prices for the specialty crop are at “unprecedented levels” of around $15 per acre. Durand, who typically seeds 160 to 300 acres on his farm near Notre Dame, Man., knows he can reap profits […] Read more
Farmers need to act now on fall contract problems
Thousands of farmers might be caught exposed because of the sodden spring, but the recent market downturn is offering them a handy fig leaf to partially hide behind. Farmers in many areas will be unable to meet their existing new crop sales agreements because they won’t be able to harvest most of their crops. Others […] Read more
Politics monopolizes single desk issue
The politics are raw and caustic. The ideological warriors are once more clashing over the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly, trying to get in one last battle before the issue is legislated out of existence. But are many farmers paying attention? I doubt it. And that’s not just because they are busy growing crops and dealing […] Read more
Flood aid in the works, says Ritz
ST. ANDREWS-BY-THE-SEA, N.B. — Prairie farmers whose planting season was washed out by this year’s floods can expect an announcement of government help soon, ministers said July 8. After a federal-provincial agriculture ministers’ meeting, federal minister Gerry Ritz said details of the extent of the disaster are coming from provincial capitals and he will quickly […] Read more
Tempers heat up over CWB issue
ST. ANDREWS-BY-THE-SEA, N.B. — Amid the general congeniality of last week’s federal-provincial agriculture ministers’ meeting, the Canadian Wheat Board issue emerged as one of the few bare-knuckle battles. Manitoba New Democratic Party minister Stan Struthers squared off against federal Conservative minister Gerry Ritz over federal plans to end the CWB single desk on Aug. 1, […] Read more
Direct seeding into forage stubble iffy
A forage expert with Saskatchewan Agriculture says it is possible for producers to direct seed forages into terminated forage stands. However, success depends on weed control, soil conditions and the ability to seed the new crop at the proper depth. Michel Tremblay told forage producers at the Western Beef Development Centre’s field day in Lanigan, […] Read more
New pulse inoculant fixes N fixing
FORT MACLEOD, Alta. – Pea and lentil growers are getting a new set of bugs. But these they are going to pay for. They are tiny rhizobial bacteria that need to populate pea and lentil roots to flourish, reproduce and fix nitrogen. It is the last part that is important to pulse growers, and Becker […] Read more
