MBC120405

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THE canadian grain commission

CWB TRIES TO CLARIFY OPEN MARKETS

Celebrating 100 years of service and innovation » PaGe 21

How will it benefit grain farmers now? » PaGe 3

SPECI A L SECTION :

April 5, 2012

SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 70, No. 14

manitobacooperator.ca

$1.75

Manitoba a biocomposites world leader?

Budget pushes CGC changes Some groups want more deregulation By Allan Dawson co-operator staff

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he Canadian Grain Commission, grain industry watchdog and wheat quality guardian for 100 years this month, won’t be financed by taxpayers after 2014. Last week’s federal budget included $44 million to help the commission transition to full self-sufficiency over the next two years. The federal government also plans to reintroduce legislation to “modernize” the commission. But with the Canadian Wheat Board’s sales monopoly ending Aug. 1 some question the need for as much commis-

Composites Innovation Centre official says researchers close to finding way to create superstrong composites from flax and hemp fibres By Lorraine Stevenson co-operator staff / portage la prairie

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See BUDGET on page 6 »

Publication Mail Agreement 40069240

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Simon Potter, manager of product innovation at the Composites Innovation Centre in Winnipeg, spoke at the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council March 22 about research underway there to build stronger biocomposite materials. He stands next to a display hood developed at the CIC and made of hemp for the soon-to-be-released fully electric Kestrel.   photo: lorraine stevenson

anitoba researchers believe they are on the brink of game-changing breakthrough that could thrust the province — and its farmers — into the forefront of the multibillion-dollar composites materials industry. “Manitoba has a real opportunity to be a global biomaterial centre,” said Simon Potter, sector manager for product innovations at the Composites Innovation Centre (CIC) in Winnipeg. “No one has ever done this for the composites industry before. It’s really going to give us the leap ahead of the global competition in the production of biocomposite materials.” This is actually two interrelated projects underway at the composites centre — one involves a new way of bonding hemp and flax fibres to produce a superstrong biocomposite material and the other would use such material to make structural components for a soon-to-be-launched electric vehicle. Potter outlined the research at the recent Manitoba

Rural Adaptation Council (MRAC) annual general meeting. Biocomposites are already used in the auto industry for things such as interior panels and dashboards. But they aren’t used for exteriors because they are not strong enough. In theory, natural fibres have similar properties to fibreglass, but not enough is known about their chemistry and structure in order to understand what bonds them together best, Potter said. But CIC researchers believe they are close to figuring that out, he said. They have used a syncrotron, which generates extremely brilliant light, in order to view the microstructure of the fibres. “The fancy way of putting this is we’re trying to develop 3D maps of the chemistry of the surface of flax and hemp fibres,” said Potter. This will allow the design of polymers, glues and resins that best stick to these types of fibres. “If we can do that, we can start to overcome some of the weakness and problems we’re having with the materials,” he said. “What we actually want to See COMPOSITES on page 6 »

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