Alberta farmer express

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ORDER OF CANADA A WIN FOR AGRICULTURE, SAYS ADVOCATE

FARMERS STEP UP TO FUND RENOWNED GRAIN AGENCY

Kim McConnell says there’s a host of people who deserve recognition » PG 3

Sylvan Lake farmer Kevin Bender to lead Cigi into new era » PG 2

What’s free advice really costing you?

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Cattle organizations still talking — but no checkoff deal in sight One proposal to resolve contentious issue of non-refundable checkoffs shot down in May and a new one is still being ‘analyzed’ BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF

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espite years of talks, the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association and Alberta Beef Producers still appear to be far apart in making a non-refundable provincial checkoff a reality.

see checkoffs } page 7

Farm leaders ‘cautiously optimistic’ about transport bill Ottawa’s new ‘transportation modernization’ bill addresses key concerns raised during 2013 rail crisis, but has gaps BY JENNIFER BLAIR AF staff

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new national transportation bill could leave a major gap in grain movement during the 2017 harvest — particularly in areas captive to one railway, say Alberta farm leaders. “Between Aug. 1 and when this new bill comes into effect, there’s a period where there might be a hole in performance,” said Alberta Canola director Renn Breitkreuz, who farms near Onoway. “We’re just going to have to get through that period. Hopefully this bill passes as quickly as possible, which would mean that window of time is as brief as possible.” At first glance, Bill C-49 — the Transportation Modernization Act — appears to address most of the concerns that producers had about rail transport during the 2013 harvest, where a record-high bumper crop and backlogs in grain movement created a grain movement crisis for producers across Western Canada. In the midst of that crisis, the federal government enacted an emergency order-in-council that mandated the shipping of minimum levels of grain and extended interswitching. And that emergency measure expires on Aug. 1. “I think the government believes that everybody is going to play nice and that

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file photo we’re going to see a smooth transition into Bill C-49,” said Olds-area farmer Jeff Nielsen, who is president of the Grain Growers of Canada. “But as a collective group, we’re concerned about the period between Aug. 1 and the passage of C-49.” And until the bill becomes law, western Canadian growers will be stuck in a wait-and-see mode.

“We’ll be going into harvest and everybody is hoping for a very good crop. We’re seeing some great opportunities for pricing and people like to take advantage of early shipping,” said Nielsen. “But we really don’t know how the railroads are going to perform yet. That has always been the problem.

see transport bill } page 6

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