THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2018
VOL. 96 | NO. 12 | $4.25
ALBERTA’S $47B PROBLEM | P3
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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Railways miss their own delivery targets A familiar script lies behind shipping woes BY BRIAN CROSS SASKATOON NEWSROOM
There are many factors that can affect how quickly harvested grain moves from a remote farm location in Western Canada to an outbound ocean vessel on Canada’s West Coast. According to sources in the grain industry, the main factors behind this year’s shipment delays aren’t much different than usual — bad weather and bad industry guidance. In a recent conversation with The Western Producer, one prairie producer lamented the fact that railways often point to frigid temperatures and challenging winter conditions as the root cause behind reduced fluidity in the grain handling system. “ Using w inter as an excuse doesn’t cut it anymore,” said the farmer, who asked that his identity be protected. “That explanation is getting very old.” Like it or not, weather plays a significant role in determining how quickly things get done, both on the farm and in the grain supply chain.
Part of Travis Heide’s motivation for converting a large farm to organics is the fact that many people don’t believe it can be done. | ROBERT ARNASON PHOTO SEE MISSED TARGETS, PAGE 5
High price of crop inputs drives Saskatchewan farmer’s decision to convert to organic production BY ROBERT ARNASON WINNIPEG BUREAU
WALDRON, Sask. — There are 25 grain bins in Travis Heide’s farmyard, including six massive ones with a capacity of 70,000 bushels each. In total, the bins can store around 550,000 bu. of grain. That’s enough for 10,000 acres of spring wheat, assuming an average yield of 55 bu. per acre.
For most prairie farmers, 550,000 bu. of storage would be more than enough. Not for Heide. He has two other grain storage yards — one near Stockholm, Sask., and another by Whitewood, Sask. Heide needs a massive number of grain bins because he farms 40,000 acres of cropland in eastern Saskatchewan. Again, for most growers, that would be more than enough.
Not Heide. He’s converting all 40,000 acres to organic. “We’re half and half this year, between organic and conventional,” said Heide. “We’ll be 75 percent organic in 2019, and if we don’t add anything else, in 2020 we’ll be 100 percent organic.” SEE GOING ORGANIC, PAGE 4
NEXICOR. IT’S WHAT’S NEXT FOR CEREALS & CANOLA.
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DID YOU KNOW? • With 40,000 acres of cropland, Travis Heide of Waldron, Sask., likely has the largest organic farm in Canada. • In comparison, the entire province of Manitoba had about 50,000 acres of organic field crops in 2016.
u|xhHEEJBy00001pzYv":# MARCH 22, 2018 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 | ISSN 0043-4094
40,000-acre farm goes organic
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