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BIGGEST CROP, AND THE MOST NEGLECTED

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Forage research drops 70 per cent over 20 years » Pg 12

fna.ca/grain 1-877-362-3276

It’s about the future of farming. At this time, FNA is seeking non-binding expressions of interest only. Participation is limited to accredited investors or to those that are otherwise exempt. You do not need to be an FNA Member to participate.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | VOL. 72, NO. 39

CWB annual report: notes but no numbers The Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board suspects the report is too politically sensitive to be made public

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MANITOBACOOPERATOR.CA

$1.75

GRAIN SHIPPERS: Worried about a repeat of poor railway performance The railways say there hasn’t been enough grain to move to meet their government-mandated thresholds By Allan Dawson

By Allan Dawson

CO-OPERATOR STAFF

CO-OPERATOR STAFF

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ow well did CWB, the government grain company formed after Ottawa ended the Canadian Wheat Board’s sales monopoly July 31, 2012, do during its first year in an open market? We may never know. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz tabled CWB’s 2012-13 annual report, including its audited financial statement, in

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See CWB on page 7 »

If you thought grain-shipping woes were solved, think again, warn grain shippers and flour millers. PHOTO: ALLAN DAWSON

ttawa has ordered the railways to move at least 526,250 tonnes of grain a week and there’s a smaller crop so there should be no worries about getting this year’s crop to market, right? Wrong. “Yes, we’re nervous about it,” Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), said in an interview Sept. 19. “As we’ve seen, CN isn’t meeting the volumes and we suspect CP also isn’t meeting the volumes.” Officials from CN and CP Rail say they are ready to move this year’s crop. But one grain company official, who asked not to be named, said his car orders are six weeks behind. Another industry official estimated there was a 25,000-car shortfall, including 13,000 unfilled orders carried over from last crop year. But CN Rail said in a statement its shortfall is 4,000 at most “or the equivalent of only four or five days of movement.” This year’s crop is expected to be slightly above the five-year average, well under last year’s record 76 million tonnes. But grain quality has been reduced by poor weather. “That adds more shipping challenges,” Sobkowich said. Grain companies are also worried changes to the car ordering system will mask car demand. Some believe it was the huge car shortfall last crop See GRAIN SHIPPERS on page 6 »

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