The tools didn’t turn up and Robert payed the guys, but he deducted 10,000 from each of their wages (that’s half a day’s pay for most of them). He calculated the cost of the tools and divided the cost between them. They weren’t too happy about that. But if you do nothing, it will happen […] Read more
Opinion — page 684
April 14, 2009
Hedging tool broken, or just damaged and wobbly?
The futures ain’t what they used to seem. For the past year and a half there have been legions of complaints that many big futures contracts are getting way out of whack with the cash market. This lack of convergence with the underlying cash market – a toxic situation for a futures contract’s long term […] Read more
Easter bunny: a cautionary tale – Editorial Notebook
It began innocently enough, with a box of bunnies. One look inside the cardboard crate on a table at the odd and unusual sale in Picture Butte, Alta., and she parted eagerly with two toonies – $2 per rabbit. Were they the same gender? The seller figured they were. And to the novice rabbit raiser, […] Read more
Meat study approached with skepticism
Jones writes from Fairview, Alta. I read with dismay, “Meat study draws mixed response,” (WP April 2) particularly since I had just finished reading Good Calories-Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. The U.S. Cancer Institute has, along with other U.S. cancer, heart, diabetes and cholesterol groups, cherry picked research for more than 70 years in order […] Read more
Letters to the editor
Noxious weeds; Track matter; Much consumption; Grow food; Water quality Noxious weeds Regarding the article “Organic sector wary of weed act changes” (WP. Feb. 26), Saskatchewan Agriculture feels it is important to outline some of the changes that are being proposed to the Noxious Weeds Act. It was first passed in 1909 to address the […] Read more
Creative ways to find customers – The Bottom Line
With almost $250 million in annual sales, Mountain Equipment Co-op can afford to hire a celebrity athlete or two to hawk its lineup of outdoor clothing and equipment. However, the iconic retailer would rather sponsor activities such as Ontario’s Tour de Greenbelt, a family-oriented cycling event that offers a marshalled tour route through the countryside […] Read more
Corporate investors must move slowly – WP editorial
THE PERCEPTION that feeding the world’s population will become a more challenging task promises to make agricultural land more valuable. That is attracting the attention of investors who are adding a new element to the ownership and management of prairie farmland though a desire to own or manage vast acreages. Either way, it changes the […] Read more
Soft side of trade issues deserve consideration – Opinion
THE AGGRESSIVE trade push by the Canadian government, supported by export-oriented agricultural sectors, emphasizes what might be called the hard end of the sales pitch. Rules are rules, the trend is away from protectionism and if Canadian product meets accepted scientific standards for safety, markets should be open. To at least a limited extent, it […] Read more
How to hide eight million acres – Opinion
Guebert is an agricultural columnist in Illinois. American farmers and global food makers have had more than a decade to get comfortable with wild, year-to-year swings in crop acres brought by decoupled, “freedom to farm” agricultural policies, an 800 percent boom in biofuel production and an increasingly hungry export market for American meat and grain. […] Read more
Farming in fantasyland
At the Canada Grains Council annual meeting there were a few references to the notion of a World Grain Reserve. It wasn’t seriously discussed and most folks there thought it was a pretty wacky and unimplementable structure. But the fact that it was mentioned at all shows how much the political and economic winds of […] Read more
