10/13/06 Canadian Gag Order & USDA Numbers

Canadian Gag Order & USDA Numbers a Surprise. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. The Canadian Wheat Board is calling on the Canadian government to withdraw a partial gag order that prevents it from lobbying to keep its monopoly. Board Chair Ken Ritter and Chief Executive Officer Adrian Measner held a news conference Wednesday to respond to the government's action. Last week the federal government issued an order directing the Board not to spend funds - directly or indirectly - on advocating the retention of its monopoly powers. This includes spending money for advertising, publishing or market research. While the Board is still examining the order - Measner says they will comply with the law. However - he says it creates an un-level playing field in the debate over the Board's future. MEASNER: We're being asked to be silent on our vision and our direction and the board of directors that are elected farmers best thoughts for the organization while at the same time the government will be promoting their vision of opening up this marketplace so I think that's the issue here. We've created an un-level playing field but I think our corporation has always acted with integrity and will continue to follow the laws of the land. International agriculture commodity markets were relatively busy overnight, with Korea buying significant quantities of corn from the United States and China. At the same time, the latest USDA production estimates for corn and soybeans came in below expectations. The USDA reckons this year`s corn harvest will total 10.9 billion bushels, down 2% from both last month and 2005. Now here's today's Washington Grange Report. (GRANGE) That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.