It Pays to Play with your Canola

Historically, Canadian canola growers have sold the bulk of their production in the bottom third of the price range. While at one time this may have been attributed to a lack of marketing options, today a grower has more alternatives than ever and the potential earnings are much higher.

The Canola Commodity Challenge is an online canola marketing simulation. Set to mimic real life, real time marketing conditions, the Canola Commodity Challenge provides a grower with a preset inventory of canola that you can market via a number of different marketing alternatives. Bruce Dalgarno, Marketing Chairman for Manitoba Canola Growers Association states: "One of the goals is to provide producers with different marketing tools like cash trade, deferred delivery, fixed bases, futures first and grain pricing order. The Challenge allows producers to test drive them in a safe environment and once a producer is comfortable using the marketing tools he can use that knowledge to market his own canola."

MCGA’s goal is to sign up 500 producers for the Challenge over the three days at Ag Days. From January to April 2005, MCGA members have the chance to win an all expense paid trip to the Canola Council of Canada July 2005 convention in Halifax. The prize will be awarded to an MCGA member who achieves the highest earnings and to an MCGA member chosen at random from the all of the active participants during the January to April 2005 challenge. Anyone can play and it is easy to sign up, go to www.mcgacanola.org and click on the Canola Commodity Challenge logo and follow the instructions.

"Once the trial in Manitoba is completed, it is our goal to have all Canadian canola growers able to access the Canola Commodity Challenge." says Dalgarno.

MCGA along with their sponsors, Cargill AgHorizons, Manitoba Co-operator, Canola Council of Canada and Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council launched the Canola Commodity Challenge today at 11:00 am.

The Manitoba Canola Growers Association is a non-profit organization made up of producers who share the goal to develop and promote the development and marketing of Manitoba grown canola.

For more information please contact,

Bill Ross, Executive Manager
Manitoba Canola Growers Association
204-982-2120
Cell: (204) 471-9588
Email: rossb@mcgacanola.org

Bruce Dalgarno,
Marketing Chairman
204-849-2193