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The Manitoba Co-operator | July 12, 2012 19
news
Monsanto
quarterly
revenues rise
By Carey Gillam
reuters
Global agribusiness Monsanto
Co. posted higherthan-expected
quarterly
profit on June 27 as net
revenue grew 17 per cent
to $4.2 billion on gains in
sales of seeds and genetic
traits and surprising
strength in herbicides.
Sales of corn seed and
genetic traits jumped 35
per cent in the third quarter,
which ended May 31,
while soybean sales rose
15 per cent to $698 million,
the company said.
Monsanto, the world’s
largest seed company and
a developer of genetically
engineered corn,
soybeans and other
crops, benefited from an
increase in U.S. planted
corn acres this spring,
as farmers rushed to
respond to strong global
demand.
“With our most significant
selling seasons
wrapped up, the third
quarter gives us a near
complete view of our
business for the fiscal
year and I feel very good
about where we stand,”
said Monsanto chief executive
Hugh Grant.
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From the field to the stage,
an organic farmer at the Fringe
Wayne James says he is troubled by much in the modern food-production
system, and will tackle the issue on stage
By Shannon VanRaes
co-operator staff / lydiatt
You can usually find Wayne
James on his Beausejourarea
organic farm, a picturesque
spot nestled in a peaceful
glen complete with running
stream, winding lane, and friendly
old dog.
However, later this month, the
organic seed producer and market
gardener will drive into Winnipeg’s
congested downtown every
day to take part in the city’s Fringe
Theater Festival. The 61-year-old,
who graduated from the University
of Winnipeg as a theatre
major, used to help other thespians
by working behind the scenes.
But for the second year in a row,
James will be standing in front of
the footlights in order to deliver a
message through theatre.
“It’s more like a cause, something
I felt nobody was talking
about,” said James.
His new one-man show is entitled
Human Rites, and follows last
year’s The Price of Admission.
Although he is still working on
his new opus, James said he was
inspired by the recent controversy
over a proposed water park next to
the Canadian Museum of Human
Rights.
“That did not seem appropriate
to me,” said James.
But that isn’t all that seems a
little off with our modern world,
according to the former test pilot,
TV studio director, and tactical
driving instructor.
James said he is troubled by
much in the modern food production
system, and will tackle
that issue on stage.
“As an organic farmer, I look at
the fact I can’t grow food without
synthetic chemicals in it,” he said.
“Even though the farm has been
organic for 12 years, the air contains
toxins, which when it rains
end up on the land and then end
up in the food chain.”
One of the underlying causes
is a lack of spiritual awareness
— and an undervaluing of food
safety, said James.
“I’ve been wrestling for a long
time now with how a society can
condone the poisoning of its own
children for the sake of somebody
making money.”
The third-generation farmer
had a short-lived political career.
Six years ago James won the NDP
nomination for the federal riding
of Selkirk-Interlake, but two weeks
into his campaign he was asked
to step aside so former premier
and governor general Ed Schreyer
could run.
“That started me thinking about
what it means to be a representative
of a riding, and more so, what
it means to be free people in control
of our own destinies,” he said.
Wayne James is an organic farmer who will preform a one-man play at this
summer’s Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival. photo: shannon Vanraes
He said he hopes his fringe play
will get audiences thinking about
food issues.
“I tend to believe that all of us
have in the back of our minds
the sense that what we’re doing is
wrong in the long term,” he said.
“People always say, ‘What can
we do?’ — like this is a runaway
freight train or something. ... But
the idea is that the individual can
do something, and in fact it is our
responsibility to do something.”
James’s 2011 production featured
original songs, monologue
and a recitation of Chief Seattle’s
speech of 1854 — a powerful com-
PROSARO
mentary on society, the environment
and humanity’s future.
“I may use (the speech) again
this year,” he said.
Writing a play, rehearsing, travelling
and promoting takes time,
especially with 80 acres of cultivated
land on the go.
“I drive in, do my show, and
drive straight back,” said James.
“It’s sunrise to sunset, but it’s
important that I just try to sneak
in some time to do the Fringe.”
The Fringe Festival (www.winnipegfringe.com)
begins July 18.
shannon.vanraes@fbcpublishing.com
C-53-06/12-BCS12052-E
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