THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014
VOL. 92 | NO. 36 | $4.25
Stocks report |
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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WHAT TO EXPECT
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OLD AND NEW AT WORK
Farmers donated time and equipment to harvest a wheat crop planted on donated land as part of a Canadian Foodgrains Bank initiative Aug. 25 near Grande Prairie, Alta. Here, Dick Bacon unloads wheat from the hopper of Gary Dixon’s 1949 Massey Harris combine into the grain box on the back of a 1949 REO Speed Wagon owned and operated by Gerald Logan. Meanwhile, a John Deere combine was one of many modern machines used by members of the Bear Lake growing project. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the CFB, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts. | RANDY VANDERVEEN PHOTO
MALTING | MARKETS
Shortage could boost Canadian barley Rise in U.S. demand | A small American barley crop will have buyers looking elsewhere for supply SASKATOON NEWSROOM
Potential problems with the U.S. barley crop could force malt companies to look north of the border for supplies, but they might not find willing sellers. “There’s going to be lots of demand for (Canadian) barley, which is going to keep that malt-feed spread really, really wide,” said Chuck Penner, an analyst with LeftField Commodity Research.
A massive U.S. corn crop is expected to weigh down feed barley prices, while a faltering U.S. barley crop should create huge interest in Canadian supplies, attracting everything of borderline quality. “How’s that for bullish?” he said. Doyle Lentz, president of the U.S. National Barley Growers Association, said yield prospects are good, but crop quality is rapidly deteriorating. “Our trouble here is similar to Canada. The weather has been so bad I’m
visiting with you today,” Lentz, who farms near Rolla, North Dakota, said Aug. 27. “I should be in a combine. We’re just not getting the crop off, and the quality is deteriorating every day.” Only 10 percent of the North Dakota crop had been harvested as of the end of August compared to the usual 80 percent. “There is just far too many unharvested acres right now for this time of year,” said Lentz.
Those acres have been exposed to heavy rain across the main barley growing states of Montana, Idaho and North Dakota, which account for 70 percent of the U.S. crop. “They’ve had these really, really odd storms that have went through Idaho this year,” Lentz said. “They really don’t get any precipitation in August, and they’ve been deluged out there.” SEE BARLEY, PAGE 2
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GRAIN | TRANSPORTATION
Grain industry officials seek long-term rail plan Transportation meeting | Leaders of Canada’s grain logistics system try to prevent another crisis BY ED WHITE WINNIPEG BUREAU
The leaders of Canada’s grain logistics system are getting together to prevent another crisis similar to what happened last year. “This is probably the first time in many years that we’ve got everybody in the room together to say, ‘where are
we going?’ ” Canada Grains Council president Richard Phillips said about the strategic planning process. He said 2013-14 revealed flaws in the system and a lack of communication and co-ordination that he thinks the CGC-led process can fix. “There’s a lot of things that we need to look at. How do we really make this system hum?” said Phillips.
“There’s room for improvement, not just with the railways, but I think with the grain companies and ports as well. It’s everybody working together to make the system what it needs to be 10 years from today, 20 years from today.” Eliminating bottlenecks and fixing flaws in the system isn’t as easy as it sounds, industry players say. The problems often don’t come to light
until critical stresses such as the cold winter and huge crop of 2013-14 throw a harsh spotlight on them. As well, the complex, multi-player system lacks long-range forward planning that could help all members determine how to prepare for future challenges. SEE TRANSPORTATION, PAGE 2
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u|xhHEEJBy00001pzYv$:' SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Stn. Main, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4 The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Corp. Publisher: Shaun Jessome Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240
BY SEAN PRATT