Manitoba has come up with cash to help struggling cattle producers faced with high feed costs, a drop in livestock prices and a high Canadian dollar. “This is an industry that only recently was able to begin to recover from the impact of the BSE crisis and now cattle producers are being hit again,” said […] Read more
Stories by Daniel Winters
Pesticide crisis prompts organic switch
Marc Boulanger’s family, which farms in southwestern Manitoba, decided to switch to organic production methods eight years ago after seeing the dark side of pesticide use. After spraying to control a plague of grasshoppers, a common problem in some years in the light, sandy soil in their area, they noticed unexpected collateral damage. “The chemical […] Read more
Fury vented at ag minister during Man. CWB meeting
Deloraine, Man. – Agriculture minister Gerry Ritz seems to take his cues from the book, “how to lose friends and alienate people,” according to farmers at a regional meeting of the Canadian Wheat Board held March 6 in Deloraine, Man. The agriculture minister hasn’t won many converts from the “tinfoil hat and decoder ring crowd,” […] Read more
Cadet corps attracts rural youth
VIRDEN, Man. – Fear of the dreaded “buzz” cut was one of the biggest reasons why young people shied away from joining cadets in past decades. But even with the hirsute look out of style and the mullet haircut now just an embarrassing photo in the high school yearbook, rural cadet corps have continued to […] Read more
Improve phosphorus before going organic
Before making the switch to organic production, farmers should load up on phosphorus, says University of Manitoba plant science professor Martin Entz. Of all the macronutrients required for crop production, nitrogen is the easiest to manage by including nitrogen-fixing legumes in the rotations. Phosphorus, on the other hand, is a critical limiting factor for yields. […] Read more
Wasting human waste called a waste
Of all the wasteful practices humans have been guilty of over the years, says a plant sciences professor, the failure to recycle nutrient phosphorus is one of the worst. Fertilizing crops with human excrement is being presented as a good way to make up for these past sins. “I would call phosphorus the Achilles heel […] Read more
Manitoba subsidizes TB tests
Ranchers in Manitoba’s Riding Mountain Eradication Area, who are required to test their cattle for tuberculosis, will soon receive provincial assistance of $6 per head. According to a recent announcement by agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk, Manitoba’s contribution of $240,000 represents 40 percent of the costs related to TB testing. The province will encourage the federal […] Read more
Mobile slaughter fights gov’t
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE – Slaughtering a cow or a sheep isn’t rocket science. For centuries, farmers butchered their own animals with nothing more than a sharp knife. Enter bureaucracy, however, and things start to get complicated – at least that’s how Lars Jorgenson tells it. Livestock now must be trucked, in some cases hundreds of […] Read more
Court calls Devils Lake changes irrational
A North Dakota Supreme Court ruling last week overturned changes made in 2006 by the state that had weakened environmental standards in the operating permit for the Devils Lake outlet. The decision was applauded by Manitoba water stewardship minister Christine Melnick, who said tighter restrictions on the Devils Lake outlet will provide more protection for […] Read more
KVD monitor tests continue
The long-sought-after “black box,” which many hope will clear the decks for changes to Canada’s grain grading system, is making steady progress, according to Gregory Penner, president and chief executive officer of NeoVentures Biotechnology. His company is working on a driveway-based device that would be able to tell various classes of wheat apart from samples […] Read more
