Grain shippers say soaring ocean freight rates are delaying purchases, shifting demand and gouging margins, and they could stay high for a few more years. With its strengthening economy China is importing huge amounts of raw materials like iron ore, coal and soybeans and exporting loads of manufactured goods. That growing demand for ocean vessels […] Read more
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Ocean shipping costs hurt exports
Man. announces cull aid program
The Manitoba government has earmarked $6 million to offer a cull program to livestock producers affected by the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in an Alberta cow. The program is not tied to the federal cull program announced earlier this fall. A distinct feature of the provincial program is that slaughter is not required to […] Read more
Australia grabs Asian pulse sales from Canada
Rising ocean freight rates are making Canadian pulses less competitive in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, two of the world’s key importing regions. “We are a little bit on the losing end vis-ˆ-vis Australia who happens to have a very, very good crop this year,” said pulse industry analyst Marlene Boersch. High freight […] Read more
GM wheat application delayed
The upcoming 2004 annual meeting of the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee on Grains just got a little less interesting. Monsanto Canada has decided not to ask the committee to recommend Roundup Ready wheat for registration when it meets in Saskatoon in February. Such a request would almost certainly have produced a contentious debate about the […] Read more
Market Notes – EU to raise grain imports
PARIS, France (Reuters) – The European Union needs to step up imports to fill its huge supply deficit, analysts and traders said Dec. 19. Europe’s own grain supplies are dwindling after spring droughts and a scorching summer shrivelled harvests. Millions of tonnes of grain will need to be imported by the end of the crop […] Read more
Speller on the job
Job 1 for Canada’s new agriculture minister is convincing the country’s farmers that he will be their champion to Ottawa. “That has been the approach I’ve always taken, to bring constituents’ views here,” Bob Speller said in a Dec. 17 interview in his Ottawa office. “I don’t mince words. The best way to resolve things […] Read more
Sweet year for honey producers
Edward Podolski credits favourable weather, abundant alfalfa and “the good Lord” for an abundant honey harvest this year. The commercial beekeeper at Ethelbert, Man., said the average honey yields from his bee colonies were the best he has ever experienced. With prices for honey still good, he was able to pay down his mortgage and […] Read more
Agriculture minister plans frequent trips West
Bob Speller, newly minted federal agriculture minister and the second Ontario MP in a row to hold that position, plans to head west as soon as he can, possibly even for a few days during the Christmas week. If that trip does not happen, his first trip as minister will be early in the new […] Read more
Scientists debate role of tillage in crop disease
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – A plant pathologist with the United States Department of Agriculture suggests reduced tillage can lead to an increase in crop diseases. During the annual meeting of the National Sunflower Association of Canada, Thomas Gulya said reduced tillage has its merits, especially for conserving soil and moisture, but a consequence is […] Read more
Mandatory grain sampling too costly: CGC
A proposal has been abandoned that would have required farmers and the grain handling system to take samples and sign declarations every time a load of grain changed hands. The Canadian Grain Commission announced last week that after consultations with industry groups and an independent analysis, it would not introduce a system of mandatory variety […] Read more
