SPRING FORWARD!
Sunday, March 11
THE COURTSHIP BEGINS
Daylight savings until the first Sunday in November
Winnipeg’s grain industry wooed by other cities » PaGe 17
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 70, No. 10 | $1.75 March 8, 2012 manitobacooperator.ca
CGC back on drawing board Proposals include ending mandatory inward inspection By Allan Dawson co-operator staff
T
he Canadian Grain Commission is on the federal government’s radar — again. Last month the commission announced its latest proposals for “modernizing” itself, and the Canada Grain Act it administers. The public has until March 23 to respond. The commission, established in 1912, is Canada’s grain industry watchdog, ensuring the quality of grain exports, arbitrating grade disputes between farmers and buyers, licensing grain companies and ensuring buyers post See CGC on page 6 »
Employees remove feathers from chicken heads at a chicken-processing factory in Suining, southwest China’s Sichuan province. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA)
Icky to some, delicacy to others Chicken feet worth more than chicken breasts in some Asian markets By Allan Dawson
Publication Mail Agreement 40069240
co-operator staff
T
he sight of a pretty Chinese girl preparing to gobble down a cooked chicken head might be a turn-off for North American meat eaters, but it represents a sexy new market for livestock producers. Asians are willing to pay a premium for the privilege of eating animal parts the industry can’t give away in domestic markets, an agricultural economist from Iowa State University says. Selling those parts as well as the premium cuts favoured by traditional markets would lower production costs for
North American livestock producers, says Dermot Hayes, an agricultural economist from Iowa State University and the 2012 Kraft Lecturer. Hayes said the emerging markets for meat offer both opportunities and risks for the North American industry, not the least of which is the possibility of new product lines. (See page 33 for more coverage.) “Young Asian people love the interesting parts of the animal,” Hayes said. “This struck home when I saw chicken feet selling at a premium to boneless, skinless, chicken breast. “They’re bored by the loin and the tenderloin and the ham. They want the feet, the ears, the lungs, internal organs.”
When it comes to producing meat, North America already has a competitive advantage, which would be enhanced by exporting to Asia the animal’s parts thrown out here, but command a premium over there. “For chickens it would be the wing tips and the feet, with legs going perhaps to Russia and the breast staying here,” Hayes said. “That has two implications. First it reinforces this urge to move a valuable product around and secondly it potentially can reduce the break-even price of the pieces of the animal that’s in demand in North America.” Hayes, who has visited China and other See CHICKEN FEET on page 6 »
NothiNg hits harder. or lasts loNger. Only PrePassTM offers superior pre-seed burndown control for up to 21 days with unique SoilActiveTM technology. Plus a 30 minute rainfast guarantee and the full service you expect from Dow AgroSciences. PrePassTM and SoilActiveTM are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences LLC. 02/12-17722-01A
17722-01A PrePass 10.25X3_FBC.indd 1
2/13/12 7:47 AM