Manitoba co operator

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Canola crop OK

Soil wildlife

Lack of emergence protected from frost » PG 19

Just what’s happening below the surface? » PG 18

SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 75, No. 22 | $1.75

June 1, 2017

manitobacooperator.ca

Manitoba hits record numbers of PED virus Three more were confirmed in the fourth week of May BY ALEXIS STOCKFORD Co-operator staff

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ight cases of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) have been confirmed in Manitoba in the last month, making this the worst year on record for the virus. Last year, five cases of the disease were reported. Two of the eight cases were found 20 kilometres away from the initial infection area, whereas the initial cases were reported very close to each other. All reported cases are in southeast Manitoba. See PED on page 7 »

Competition appears to be spurring efficiencies in the grain pipeline, which are finding their way to farmers.   PHOTO: canadian national

Western farmers benefit from grain-handling efficiency gains Basis levels are closer to normal, indicating more competition and fewer system constraints, says U of M ag economist Derek Brewin BY ALLAN DAWSON

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Co-operator staff

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estern Canadian grain farmers saw the gap between the export price and their price narrow in 2015-16, reaping the benefits of an efficient and competitive grain-handling and transportation system (GHTS). Despite 2015’s near-record 64.7-million-tonne crop, there was no repeat of a grain shipping backlog that followed

record production in 2013, Derek Brewin, a University of Manitoba agricultural economist said. “It looks like the planning worked better this time and they (grain buyers) were able to give the farmer a better return all through 2015 and 2016,” Brewin said in an interview May 23. “It looks like competition is back in our grain supply chain. It’s good news for farmers.” In 2013-14 Canada’s grain monitor reported the average wheat basis — the difference between the export price in

Vancouver and what farmers were paid at the elevator — hit a record $132.41 a tonne. Economists say the wider-thannormal basis is a signal to farmers not to deliver grain. However, some grain was delivered and shipped, and according to Brewin, farmers collectively were shorted, on average, $80 a tonne or $3.5 billion. “We are suggesting the grain companies pocketed most of that difference,” he said during a lecture Oct. 19, 2016. See GRAIN MOVE on page 6 »

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