THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011
VOL. 89 | NO. 50 | $3.75
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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FIGHT FUSARIUM |
IT PAYS TO SPRAY
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WEATHER | LA NINA
Experts predict dry winter La Nina system could stick around until spring BY SEAN PRATT SASKATOON NEWSROOM
A federal court judge ruled that legislation to end the CWB single desk broke the rule of law. Now, producers wonder how and where they will market their grain while the government mounts its appeal. | MICHAEL RAINE PHOTO ILLUSTRATION CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD | LEGAL CHALLENGE
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BY ROBERT ARNASON BRANDON BUREAU
After weeks of rancorous debate regarding the fate of the Canadian Wheat Board and an avalanche of contentious words like “steamrolling”, “Big Brother” and “court
injunction,” western Canadian cereal growers are craving another word to describe Canada’s grain industry: certainty. Last week, the board’s fate became less certain when a Federal Court of Canada judge ruled in favour of CWB directors and an advocacy group, Friends of the CWB. Judge Douglas Campbell ruled Dec. 6 that agriculture minister Gerry Ritz broke the rule of law by introducing legislation this fall to end the board’s single desk marketing system without consulting the board’s directors or holding a
Milling Wheat, Durum Wheat & Barley futures and options coming January 23, 2012 to ICE Futures Canada. Agricultural Markets in Clear View For more information, please visit our website at: theice.com/grains
producer plebiscite. The judge’s decision heartens CWB supporters but the likelihood of several more months of uncertainty, including a government appeal of the ruling, is complicating the lives of producers who have mixed feelings about the board. “There are those people who believe that life ends after the wheat board is gone…. And then there are people, like me, in the middle who just want things to settle out so we can do business,” said Curtis McRae, who farms 4,500 acres and grows 1,000 to 1,500
acres of wheat annually with his brother Mac north of Winnipeg. In a normal year, McRae would have already made a decision regarding his acreage intentions for 2012. But without marketing certainty he’ll have to play it safe this spring and stick to his basic rotation. On the marketing side of his business, if he knew the board’s monopoly would end this summer, McRae could forward sell a portion of his wheat crop. access=subscriber section=news,none,none
SEE LEGAL DECISION, PAGE 2 »
SEE LA NINA, PAGE 3»
u|xhHEEJBy00001pzYv;:! DECEMBER 15, 2011 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4 The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Inc. Publisher, Larry Hertz Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240; Registration No. 10676
Wheat board wrangling leaves many producers in confusion Market uncertainty | Farmers want to know how to carry on with business
CHICAGO — Western Canadian farmers can expect a drier winter and spring than last year unless a “blocking situation” develops over Greenland, says a weather expert. La Nina will once again dictate winter and spring weather patterns, although it is not expected to be as powerful as last year’s event, which was the strongest since 1955. “It is typical to have a second year of La Nina after you’ve had a real strong year,” said Bryce Anderson, an agricultural meteorologist with DTN, a markets information firm. “We’re not looking at another historic level type of La Nina event like we were a year ago, but it certainly is around.” It has a better than 50 percent chance of having enough intensity to stick around well into spring, according to a weather expert Anderson follows at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research.