THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018
VOL. 96 | NO. 2 | $4.25
What about India?
2018 Guide
Pulse Canada wants more transparency on import duties | P. 6 SPRING WHEAT CLASS CHANGES How Varietal selection
Inside this issue SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
|
WWW.PRODUCER.COM
GETTING OUT OF THE COLD
Look for the 2018 Saskatchewan Seed Growers’ Guide
Alta. considers softer stance on fusarium BY BRIAN CROSS SASKATOON NEWSROOM
It’s unlikely that Alberta’s farmers will be able to keep fusarium graminearum out of their fields, but they might be able to do the next best thing — get it removed from Alberta’s Agricultural Pest Act. After several years of deliberation, the Alberta government is considering removing fusarium from the Agricultural Pest Act, which would clear the way for a new province-wide policy on fusarium management. Although no decisions have been made, the province is soliciting feedback on the issue from selected farm groups, including provincial agriculture commissions, commodity associations and other industry organizations. Members of the selected organizations have been asked to complete an online survey on fusarium graminearum before Jan. 18. The survey is aimed at collecting information and gauging growers’ views about fusarium management. “We have launched a survey to gather information from producers and their associations about
It was a frigid -29 C on Dec. 30 near High River, Alta., when Cindy Mason led an iced-up Shire heavy horse to the nearby Longson ranch to warm up in a barn. Windchill temperatures dipped to the -40s and the horse’s mouth area was almost completely ice covered. | MIKE STURK PHOTO
It’s a scenario that keeps grain exporters awake at night. A vessel with 70,000 tonnes of Canadian grain arrives at port in
Japan. Samples are taken and tested. The shipment is then rejected because the samples exceed the maximum residue limit for a particular pesticide. However, exporters such as Richardson International plan for such
scenarios and have developed methods to trace the source of the infraction back to an individual farm in Canada. “Yes, it is possible to trace the source of a rejected shipment of grain back to a farm delivery,” said
SAVE
UP TO
$
Lynne Sweeney, the company’s assistant vice-president for quality assurance and food safety. At its elevators, Richardson employees take samples from each grain SEE TRACING CROPS, PAGE 4
»
2/ACRE
Early book 1,000 acres of Bayer Cereal Herbicides by March 16, 2018 to qualify. ASK YOUR RETAILER FOR DETAILS
cropscience.bayer.ca/BayerValue
1 888-283-6847
@Bayer4CropsCA
#AskBayerCrop
Always read and follow label directions. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.
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
JANUARY 11, 2018 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Stn. Main, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4
Richardson says it has a system in place to trace rejected samples back to an individual farm BY ROBERT ARNASON
»
u|xhHEEJBy00001pzYv+:#
Grain handler can trace problem crop back to farm BRANDON BUREAU
SEE ALBERTA FUSARIUM, PAGE 5