The once unassailable principle of pooling is being debated within the Canadian Wheat Board. As the grain marketing agency looks to offer farmers more pricing options and flexibility, it is running up against one of the pillars of CWB operations – maintaining the purity of price pooling. That has prompted a debate around the board […] Read more
News
Touching the untouchable: CWB reviews price pooling
BSE solution lies in cost control: expert
Harlan Hughes delivered a more uplifting message to Canadian cattle producers in early September than he did during his Feb. 6 speech at Cattle Congress 2004 in Saskatoon. In the fall, the livestock economist and professor emeritus at North Dakota State University was convinced live cattle would enter the United States by January and that […] Read more
Former dairy chief now in hotseat
When John Core, a Wyoming, Ont., dairy farmer, was president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, he looked forward to the annual DFC conference as a time to lead the industry charge against poor government decisions and policy. These days, as chair of the Canadian Dairy Commission, the DFC January conference is less something to look […] Read more
Plan of action: setting farm goals – Special Report (story 1)
Farm business planning is key to successfully transferring the farm to the next generation. It also ensures the long-term health of the business and maintains family harmony. But Rome was not built in a day and a good farm business plan isn’t either. It is an evolving process to create a plan flexible enough to […] Read more
Oat stocks could boost prices
ELM CREEK, Man. – Tight world stocks of coarse grains, particularly corn, could help spur price rallies in oats between now and spring, says Agricore United oats merchant Brenda Anderson. She told a Prairie Oat Growers meeting in Elm Creek Feb. 4 that world ending stocks of coarse grains are at a 20-year low, which […] Read more
Speller vows support
When federal agriculture minister Bob Speller took the podium at the Dairy Farmers of Canada convention Feb. 3 to pledge support for the supply management system, his words created an instant buzz in the room. “I want to tell you on behalf of not only myself and my caucus colleagues, but particularly the prime minister […] Read more
Cattle industry takes drastic action
The BSE crisis showed no signs of abating last week, forcing the cattle industry to further scramble for control of its destiny. The Alberta Cattle Feeders Association proposed last week a much-expanded packing and processing industry to help the cattle business in the face of export market losses. The feeders association was expected to meet […] Read more
Vancouver port plans container expansion
Canada’s largest seaport plans to nearly quadruple the number of containers it handles on the West Coast. That’s good news for special crops exporters and others in agriculture who use shipping containers. The Port of Vancouver is spending $1.2 billion over the next 16 years to expand its three container terminals and open two new […] Read more
Slaughter plant targets high end market
A desire to create new markets for culled cattle is driving a proposed slaughter plant at Neudorf, Sask., says Ken Piller of Natural Valley Farms. The cow-calf and feedlot operator said the abundance of older animals caused by BSE and international border closures has created opportunities for high-end niche beef markets in Canada. “We need […] Read more
Speller urges lenders to stick with producers
Agriculture minister Bob Speller sits down with Canada’s lenders this week, including Farm Credit Canada, to try to convince them to keep extending credit to Canadian farmers hurt by BSE. “I will try to give them assurances that the government of Canada is doing everything that it can to open up the border and to […] Read more
