Parliament Hill becomes the focal point this week of the increasingly acrimonious debate over the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly as the House of Commons agriculture committee holds three days of emergency hearings on the issue. Summoned to committee hearings are prairie provincial agriculture ministers, farm leaders on both sides of the issue and Regina communications […] Read more
News
CWB centre stage as politicians meet
Biofuel plan called good first step
Biofuel boosters are applauding last week’s unveiling of the Conservative government’s Clean Air Act that will for the first time give Ottawa the ability to set regulations requiring that Canadian fuel contain a prescribed biofuel content. Details still are being worked out, which include tax and investment incentives to encourage construction of ethanol and biodiesel […] Read more
Rural revitalization off to ‘good start’
The Saskatchewan government has acted on about two-thirds of 220 recommendations put forward by a committee appointed to find ways to revitalize rural Saskatchewan. A monitoring committee formed from the larger Action Committee on the Rural Economy has examined progress to date and reported that 143 recommendations have been dealt with and should be taken […] Read more
Goodale criticizes gov’t methods
The Liberal architect of the rules governing the Canadian Wheat Board says the Conservative government is coming dangerously close to violating the spirit and maybe the letter of the law. Ralph Goodale, veteran Saskatchewan MP, Liberal opposition House leader and minister responsible for the CWB when legislation was last revised in 1998, said last week […] Read more
Approval of BSE class action lawsuit awaits ruling
A lawsuit is before Quebec’s Superior Court claiming an international livestock feed company and the federal government knew how to prevent BSE but did not act soon enough, costing the cattle industry billions of dollars. Quebec farmer Donald Berneche claims he lost $100,000 in revenue during the BSE crisis. His claim says border closures cost […] Read more
Implement innovator dies
Charlie Balmer revolutionized how agricultural inputs are applied. He made granular products practical with his Airmax and Airspread systems that today are used around the world. He pioneered the split duct system, allowing simultaneous application of two granular products, such as herbicide and fertilizer. Through his lifetime, he held 24 patents, but made many of […] Read more
Strahl cuts voters list in CWB elections
Some 16,000 prairie farmers who expected to receive a ballot for the Canadian Wheat Board’s director elections will instead first have to file a statutory declaration. CWB minister Chuck Strahl announced the last minute changes Oct. 17, more than a month after the election period began and just a few days before ballots were to […] Read more
Ottawa reneges on fruit sector funding
The federal government is betraying a promise to Ontario’s fruit and vegetable growers that it would help fund a risk management program, an industry leader told MPs last week. Len Troup, chair of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association, made a pitch to the House of Commons agriculture committee on Oct. 17 that Ottawa […] Read more
Wheat board battle casts shadow over port of Churchill
CHURCHILL, Man. – Ice is spreading across ponds here and the end of the shipping season is nigh. A chill wind is also said to be blowing through the hearts of many local people out of fears about the future of their port. Anxious town, port and railway officials say they want Ottawa to leave […] Read more
Endophytes lurk in grass seed straw
Interest in adding grass seed production residues to cattle rations has been increasing in Manitoba, but a government forage specialist in that province is urging caution. Glenn Friesen said livestock disorders have been observed in parts of Western Canada where turf-type perennial ryegrass and tall fescue residues were fed. These disorders, known as fescue foot […] Read more
