Gordon Harrison. (Manitoba Co-operator file photo by Allan Dawson)

Lots of flour to go around, millers’ association says

System is 'doing extremely well' and should have no problem keeping up with demand, CNMA's Gordon Harrison says

The grain supply chain is working as it should during the COVID-19 pandemic, says the president of the Canadian National Millers Association. “From the milling industry vantage point, the movement of grain from farm to the producer to the elevator systems to mills is doing extremely well,” Gordon Harrison said Tuesday. “The grain supply chain […] Read more

Ardent Mills’ milling facility at Saskatoon. (ArdentMills.com)

North America’s millers, bakers scramble to satisfy bread binge

Chicago/Winnipeg | Reuters — North American flour mills and bakeries are rushing to boost production as the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus leads to consumer stockpiling of staples such as bread and pasta. The virus’ spread prompted orders to stay at home in some U.S. states, including New York, California and Illinois last week, following […] Read more


Wheat leaf rust. (James Kolmer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Digital supercluster backs precision fungicide development

Project aims at wheat leaf rust, reducing pesticide load

A West Coast ag tech company in the crop pest control business is setting its sights on wheat leaf rust, with support from one of Canada’s five research superclusters — but not the cluster you might expect. Out of the five federally-supported superclusters launched in early 2018, Protein Industries Canada has been most closely linked […] Read more

Granvita is Grupo Vida’s consumer oats brand, including breakfast cereals, snacks, granola, oatmeal, oat flakes and oat milk. (Granvita.com)

Mexico wants Canadian oats

MarketsFarm — Mexico’s largest oat manufacturer is calling for Canadian oat producers to explore new varieties and increase acreage in order to keep up with global demand. Jorge Sanchez, chief financial officer of Mexico’s Corporativo Grupo Vida Internacional, said Canada’s oat crops need to “adapt to changing growing conditions” in order to meet world demand, […] Read more


(Greg Berg photo)

Oat area poised to rise

MarketsFarm — Solid prices and growing demand — and risk aversion among growers — should see more oat acres seeded in Canada in 2020, with early signs pointing to the largest oat crop in more than a decade. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada predicted 2020 oat area at 3.93 million acres in its January report, which […] Read more

A new study examines challenges facing both federally and provincially inspected beef processors in Alberta.

Dittmer: From the Golden Globes to R-CALF

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

Hollywood’s Golden Globe awards telecast is mostly about movies I haven’t seen and actors I don’t know. But my wife came and got me for something disturbing.The very first award winner, before thanking anyone, thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for making the pre-show dinner all-vegetarian to demonstrate how critical climate change is to the […] Read more


Members of Grain Farmers of Ontario sport a banner outside a provincial cabinet minister’s office in 2015. (File photo by Ralph Pearce)

GFO quits Grain Growers of Canada

Grain Farmers of Ontario flags national group's 'governance' and structure

Grain Farmers of Ontario has dropped out of Grain Growers of Canada. The Ontario organization, which represents about 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean and wheat farmers in the province, cited a lack of representation in the national policy group. GFO publicly announced its withdrawal in a news release on Thursday, days after it informed the […] Read more

File photo of canola under snow in October 2016. (Lisa Guenther photo)

Unharvested crops skew StatsCan stocks data

MarketsFarm — Canadian canola stocks were slightly tighter at the end of the 2019 calendar year compared to the previous year, according to updated Statistics Canada data. However, adverse harvest conditions left a large amount of the crop unaccounted for in the survey, which skews the overall supply/demand outlook. “Because of poor weather conditions during […] Read more


Wian Prinsloo and Lydia Carpenter 
raise poultry, lamb, pork and beef 
near Belmont, Man.

Following the farming dream

Lydia Carpenter and Wian Prinsloo are earning a living by selling meat directly to a growing customer base

For as long as he can remember, Wian Prinsloo has wanted to farm and graze livestock. “I started with chickens in the city, while we were still in South Africa. When we left Pretoria to come to Canada, I was 15 years old and had 300 layer hens, supplying eggs to a school, and an […] Read more

Kenyon: Beware the metabolic welfare state

Kenyon: Beware the metabolic welfare state

Be prepared to commit when moving from grass-fed toward grain-fed

Grass-fed vs. grain-fed is a never-ending debate in the cattle industry and I have heard many different arguments on both sides. I will try to stay neutral in this article because I think that the natural biology of the rumen has a lot to say about the topic. As you know, I try to follow […] Read more