GETTING DOCKED?
GMO debate here to stay
Canola dockage excessive CGC says » Page 19
Consumer groups aren’t backing down » Page 9
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 71, No. 13 | $1.75 March 28, 2013 manitobacooperator.ca
Which crop is your biggest money-maker?
(Hint: It’s almost certainly not barley or oats) Based on MAFRI cost-of-production estimates, winter wheat tops the charts followed by soybeans, sunflowers, and canola By Daniel Winters co-operator staff
W
ith highly variable costs and prices, choosing the most profitable crop to grow each spring is a bit like throwing darts at a moving target. But farmers who seeded winter wheat last fall will be pleased to hear that their dart is likely to land dead centre, says Gary Smart, a farm management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives in Somerset. “Winter wheat — it’s pretty tough to plant that now — but whoever’s got it in the ground is looking pretty good,” Smart said during a presentation at the recent Young and Beginning Farmers Conference. On Smart’s cost-of-production spreadsheets, winter wheat should net $76.25 an acre (total returns of $393.96 per acre minus $317.71 in costs). In a list of the top eight best-performing crops based on net returns per acre, Smart pegged soybeans as the next best, followed by sunflowers and canSee MONEY-MAKER on page 6 »
Gary Smart, a MAFRI farm management adviser, presents his analysis of the most profitable crops this season. photo: Daniel Winters
A slow melt is needed to reduce flood risk The province is preparing for spring flooding, as heavy helpings of snow and a late melt buoy the likelihood of high water By Shannon VanRaes CO-OPERATOR STAFF
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ecent snowfall has increased the risk of flooding in Manitoba this spring, according to government officials. Although the widespread and prolonged flooding of 2011 isn’t expected at this time, the province is preparing to close community ring dikes in the Red River Valley and expects
Highway 75 to be closed for a period of weeks. “We’re preparing for that eventuality and we’re lining up contractors to do the closures now,” said Doug McNeil, deputy minister for Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation. But at this time, it’s not expected that ring dike communities will have their access points cut off, he said. “We’re expecting that our
levels could be somewhere between 2009 and 2011 on the Red River,” he added, noting 2009 saw higher water levels than 2011 and went down as the second-largest Red River flood on record, after the 1826 deluge. Last week, the U.S. National Weather Service updated its flood forecast, indicating the risk of major flooding in Fargo, North Dakota has increased to 98 per cent. Water there has a 50 per cent chance of reaching
20 feet above flood level, just shy of the 23 feet above flood level reached during the 2009 flood, which caused significant damage. But one U.S. official notes even a 50 per cent increase in Fargo’s flood risk only translates into a two per cent increase in risk for significant flooding in Winnipeg, adding the Red River broadens as it heads north. See SLOW MELT on page 6 »
CAGED: OLYMEL WILL PHASE OUT SOW STALLS » PAGE 13