Shape Foods’ flax and sunflower oil processing plant being built on the east side of Brandon will be running by early September, said Ben Comis, vice-president of business development. Already, a battery of grain storage bins stand next to a two-storey, 6,300 sq. metre building that will house the main production facility and office. “It’s […] Read more
Stories by Daniel Winters
Melita hemp, camelina shows promise
Funny what a difference a little geography can make. Last week, Scott Day, a diversification specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, led visitors on a tour of the Melita, Man., research farm’s test plots. In one field, hemp plants stood lush and as thick as thieves, perched on a knoll overlooking the southwestern Manitoba plain. It seemed […] Read more
Treat native pasture right, reap benefits
Most people think they know what native pastures look like: a thin growth of wispy, burnt-up grass interspersed with blue sage, gopher holes and buckbrush. Many farmers think that such land won’t generate enough cash returns to pay the taxes unless it is plowed up and seeded to something useful. It doesn’t have to be […] Read more
Fusarium resistant wheat trials underway by co-op
MINTO, Man. – Potentially good news is growing in prairie test plots and last week farmers got a chance to see for themselves. The Western Feed Grain Development Co-op (WFGD) used a tour of the Ag-Quest research station near Minto to show off its feed wheat development plots and the extensive yield trials that are […] Read more
Prairie bird numbers declining
Statistics gleaned from annual breeding bird surveys over the past 30 years show that many prairie grassland bird species, such as the western meadowlark, redwing blackbird and killdeer, have been in serious decline largely due to habitat loss, according to Ken De Smet, a species-at-risk biologist with Manitoba Conservation. Breeding bird surveys are conducted in […] Read more
Rural churches told to act for community’s sake
Economic “colonization” is the biggest threat to the survival of rural communities, according to John Ikerd, a retired University of Missouri agricultural economics professor. The “economic fundamentalists” driven by faith in the power of free market forces seek to lift up what they see as backward rural areas with the promise of better social services […] Read more
Seasonal workers join union
The Manitoba Labour Board ruled June 26 that the 47 Mexican migrant workers at Mayfair Farms in Portage la Prairie are able to join a union. In a News release news, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832 president Robert Ziegler called the decision precedent setting for the 18,000 foreign workers that come to Canada […] Read more
Mexican farm workers say union unwanted
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – The Mexican workers at Mayfair Farms are part of a union now, but some are not sure if that’s a good thing. For six seasons, Juan Perez has been picking strawberries, cauliflower, cabbage and other vegetable crops at the farm, about a kilometre from Portage la Prairie’s downtown. He and […] Read more
Cheap ag inputs found in U.S.
Prices for farm inputs can vary greatly, depending on which side of the border a farmer is on, according to a survey conducted by University of Guelph professor Ken McEwan. The Ontario Farm Input Monitoring Project has checked prices at farm supply stores three times this year, collecting data on 44 farm inputs from 10 […] Read more
Manitoba residents urged to cut use of phosphorus-based soap
A public education campaign is urging Manitobans to seek alternatives to phosphorus-based products to reduce the nutrient load in the province’s waterways. “Individual actions to reduce use of lawn and garden fertilizers and cleaning products that contain phosphorus can go a long way to reducing nutrients that promote algae growth in our lakes and rivers,” […] Read more
