The fine detail in the announcement of a new cap on pea imports into India has led to new uncertainty over whether the cap applies to yellow peas, or all peas. India’s commerce and industry ministry announced Wednesday that pea imports between April 1 and June 30 this year are now restricted to a total […] Read more
Confusion surrounds India’s latest pea import curb
Getting from combine to customer
This Cigi program is a great way for farmers to learn more about ag markets
At the end of Heather Johnson’s first day of work for the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi), her colleagues rolled out a fresh rack of bread for everyone to enjoy. “Boy, have I landed in the right place,” she said to herself that day. Johnson, Cigi’s director of communications, was speaking to Combine to Customer […] Read more
Getting more seed treatment from less
More seed treatments are coming in concentrated, ready-to-use, easy-to-handle formats
Allan Anderson is a big fan of concentrated seed treatments. “I would love to see every single product as a concentrate because that allows so much flexibility with overall application,” says Anderson, senior seed growth specialist with Bayer. Anderson thinks that more concentrate products will enter the seed treatment market as formulations and active ingredients […] Read more
Reporter’s Notebook: Where’s our federal ag minister?
From taxation to transportation, there’s a lack of understanding of agriculture showing
Some days, you really have to wonder where our federal ag minister is at. Last year, the federal Liberals attempted to roll out tax reforms that raised the hackles of many in the ag sector. The proposed changes to capital gains exemptions seemed likely to threaten many producers’ abilities to pass the operation to their […] Read more
Adding pulses to pasta
Cigi food researchers are finding ways to make your produce more appealing
Anyone who enjoyed Play-Doh as a child will appreciate watching Paul Ebbinghaus make pasta at the Canadian International Grains Institute’s (Cigi’s) pasta plant, on the main floor of their downtown Winnipeg office. But the international grain markets are not child’s play. The pasta plant is one part of Cigi’s strategy to keep Canadian durum competitive. […] Read more
Reporter’s Notebook: Working with other boards
Making one non-profit board effective can be hard. Now, try bringing 2 together
A basic principle of horsemanship is that you should make the right thing easy for the horse to do, and the wrong thing hard. For example, if your horse doesn’t want to stand still, don’t try to force him to stand still. Instead, make him work — sidepass, turn on the foreleg, etc. The idea is that the […] Read more
A tale of two (wheat) markets
As markets change, exporters need to know how end buyers are using our products
Historically, Japan has been the biggest market for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat, outside of Canada’s domestic market. But that changed in 2017, when Indonesia edged ahead of Japan. With a population estimated to be over 260 million, the growth potential for the Indonesian market is huge. Still, Japan has been a loyal customer of Canadian wheat as well, said Yvonne Supeene, […] Read more
Reporter’s Notebook: From combine to customer
A trip to the Cigi course on export grains is teaching Lisa Guenther the fine details
I’m writing this column after my second day at the Combine to Customer tour, the crash course in the wheat supply chain organized by the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) in Winnipeg. It’s one of those info-rich events where I have more material than I know what I can do with so watch for more […] Read more
Ins and outs of intercropping
Intercropping researcher Lana Shaw shares tips and tricks for successful intercropping
You can’t convince farmers to use long rotations if they are losing money on some of those crops, says Lana Shaw, research manager of South East Research Farm at Redvers, Sask. Nor is it good enough to only have one or two profitable crops in a region. The industry needs to find a way to […] Read more
Reporter’s Notebook: Four questions to ask yourself
Before you get involved in an ugly social media argument, take time to think it through
When I look at the state of public discourse these days, the phrase that comes to mind is “dumpster fire.” My theory is that our society hasn’t had time to adapt to rapidly changing technology (i.e. social media). These days, anyone can tweet or post anything. Some of those opinions are insightful and worth exploring. […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
