Daniel Winters

The number of claims for animals lost to predators in Manitoba has been soaring in recent years. Statistics from the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. (MASC) show that predator loss claims have more than tripled since 2000. In that year, the corporation paid out roughly $150,000 in compensation for 478 animals killed by wolves and coyotes. […] Read more

Slightly more than two dozen people showed up at Brandon University last week for a symposium on retaining branch and short lines in rural communities. Invitations were also sent to local MP Merv Tweed and provincial agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk. Neither attended. National Farmers Union president Stewart Wells said the disappointing turnout shows that many […] Read more

Once those rails are torn out, they’re gone forever. Northern Saskatchewan grain farmer Ron Shymanski, who spoke at the National Farmers Union’s short-line rail symposium last week, told how he and a group of farmers fought a seven-year battle to buy 45 kilometres of branch line between Choiceland and Nipawin. Their bid to preserve rail […] Read more

Statistics Canada studies show that shipping bulk commodities by truck is 15 times more energy intensive than by rail, according to an economics professor from Brandon University. “That means you use 15 times less energy per tonne per kilometre of stuff shipped,” Joe Dolecki said. He also noted that a Brookings Institute study looking at […] Read more

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

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

Viterra will test tougher canola varieties this spring that use gene technology developed by an Israeli biotechnology firm. The genes discovered by Evogene provide improved resistance to abiotic stress, which results from environmental factors such as drought, salinity or extremes of heat or cold. Researchers say canola lines that are better able to handle such […] Read more

Proposed changes to Manitoba’s Employment Standards Code will help attract and retain farm workers in a competitive labour market, says Labour and Immigration minister Nancy Allan. “The new regulation balances the positions of employers and labour and is the first significant change in over 50 years,” said Allan. “It provides many of the same basic […] Read more