Seven points about western grain
At times the whole Wheat Board, grain marketing issue can appear dauntingly complex. So here is a quick summary: Since the invention of the telegraph, the international grain market has been controlled by five giant companies. Aside from Canada there are really only three countries producing reliable bulk supplies of grain for international sale: The United States, Argentina, and...
Read MoreHarper’s Sense of humour
(April 11, 2014) Many commentators have remarked on Prime Minister Harper’s humourless approach to life and government, but Bill C-30 “the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act” shows how wrong they are. The Prime Minister and his Agriculture Minister must be nearly anoxic with laughter over the debate in the farm community on the merits of the Act and who can blame them? For almost 78 years...
Read MorePublic meeting in the heart of grain country sends message to Ottawa
by admin on Mar 10, 2014 in News Release
Public meeting in the heart of grain country sends message to Ottawa (Raymore, Sk., March 10, 2014) The Canadian Wheat Board Alliance hosted a large meeting of prairie grain farmers yesterday in Raymore, Saskatchewan. By an almost unanimous vote the meeting passed a motion demanding the Federal Minister of Agriculture immediately conduct a vote on the restoration of the farmer-controlled...
Read MoreThat ship has sailed
The Ritz/Raitt command to the railways to move a million tonnes of grain a week or else is full of irony. It will not change the fact the prairie crop has been stranded which has pushed farm prices down by half. It was perfectly predicable and the government was certainly warned. Since there will also be a huge carryover of old crop into the new crop year that also means prices for western...
Read MoreHow bad is it?
(March 5, 2014) The media is now full of stories about the chaos at grain ports. Unfortunately few of them are going much beyond the simple minded mantra of blaming the railways. Much as I hate to miss the chance to criticize the railways, this time the rancor is misplaced. This is clearly a problem created by the private grain companies and transportation is just a subset of that bigger...
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