Canadian companies are forced to import organic grain to satisfy domestic demand
America is the largest market in the world for organic food. Consumers in that country bought nearly $30 billion worth of organic food and beverages in 2012, up 10 percent from the previous year, according to the World of Organic Agriculture report, an annual publication featuring organic trends and statistics. However, North American farmers can’t […] Read moreTag Archives Special Report
U.S. a ready-made market for prairie organics
Consumers want organic, so why are farmers wary?
Canada’s organic industry has a popularity problem. Each year, Canadians buy more organic beef, more organic breakfast cereal and more organic soymilk than the previous year. The public’s hunger for organic food seems insatiable and consumer demand is expected to expand exponentially, but can supply meet the demand? Paying $8 for a small box of […] Read more
The search for the holy grail: nitrogen fixation in cereal crops
Breakthroughs in science are usually the result of labour over a lifetime or longer. Most crop research is devoted to incremental improvements, but some are devoted to transformative change. One such search is for a way to allow cereals to fix nitrogen as pulse crops do. Such a breakthrough would free producers, particularly poor farmers […] Read more
Fading vision?
Will Canadian researchers ever again revolutionize agriculture as they did by developing canola? The Western Producer’s Robert Arnason poses that question in this special report. Agriculture research today is mostly a collaboration of public, corporate and industry resources focused on practical, incremental advances. Some argue that narrow funding horizons and changing priorities rule out big […] Read more
Short-range projects part of long-term objectives: AgCanada
Agricultural scientists may work on projects for short periods, but it’s unfair to conclude that Canada is neglecting visionary and revolutionary science, says an Agriculture Canada manager. Critics of the nation’s agricultural research system say there’s too much applied research and not enough support for basic research, in which scientists seek answers to fundamental questions. […] Read more
Clogged: Bigger crops will increase pressure to solve rail problems
This year’s grain transportation problems might be an exceptional situation arising from a record crop and a long period of frigid weather, but it is a wake-up call for the need for new thinking in the grain handling and transportation sector. Expanding crop production will vie with other growing sectors of the economy for rail […] Read more
Clogged: logistics leave farmers in the cold
What are the reasons for the grain transportation shortfall this year? Is unusually cold weather the cause, as the railways say? What role does increased movement of crude oil by rail play? Is there enough rail capacity after Canadian Pacific Railway made big staff cuts and reduced its locomotive fleet? Has grain movement suffered since CWB lost its role? Western Producer reporter Brian Cross looks at the explanations and allegations that have made this the hottest topic of the winter.
What are the reasons for the grain transportation shortfall this year? Is unusually cold weather the cause, as the railways say? What role does increased movement of crude oil by rail play? Is there enough rail capacity after Canadian Pacific Railway made big staff cuts and reduced its locomotive fleet? Has grain movement suffered since […] Read moreAre transportation woes linked to the end of CWB’s single desk?
A former farmer-elected CWB director says the elimination of single desk marketing is largely responsible for the logistical nightmare that has paralyzed the western Canadian grain industry this winter. Kyle Korneychuk, a long-time supporter of single desk marketing, said it’s time for federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz to own up to the fact that scrapping […] Read more
Clogged: slow rail service causes port delays
Grain transportation constraints have become the top issue for western Canadian farmers this year. The railways say the main cause of the problem is unusually cold weather, but others allege that increased rail movement of crude oil is also a factor. As politicians and farmers hold meetings to try to get to the bottom of […] Read more
Clogged: Canada’s grain transportation system isn’t working. What now?
Grain transportation problems are turning an oversupplied market into a disaster, slashing grain prices and ballooning the amount of crop carried over into the new year. Unable to deliver, farmers are struggling with cash flow problems. Processors are curtailing operations for lack of raw product and importers that normally buy from Canada are seeking more […] Read more
